Nick Piccone
ESPN hired former Eagles head coach Chip Kelly to be an NFL analyst for this upcoming season.
But the Chipper isn’t one that really divulges a lot of information. And that’s why it was surprising to see him join Adam Schefter’s Know Them From Adam podcast recently. Schefter asked him about when he was with the Eagles and asked how close the team was to trading up in the draft so they could take Marcus Mariota. Here’s what Chip had to say:
“No. That question didn’t come up very often. From all the conversations with Tennessee is they weren’t moving off the pick, and rightly so. They were looking for the same thing – to get themselves a really top quality quarterback – we really didn’t get into a conversation about what we can offer or can’t offer because they made it known that they weren’t really looking to trade the pick. That’s all speculation that’s out there. We hear stories that we offered this, we offered that, we didn’t offer anything because they weren’t taking any offers for it. You look at what Marcus has done in his two years in the league, one of the really bright, young quarterbacks in the NFL. There’s a reason they didn’t move off that pick, because they had a chance to get themselves a really good quarterback.
“I understand it. I coached Marcus and had an opportunity to be around him. I think the world of him, not only as a football player, but as a person. I would’ve loved to have coached him. When you’re involved in trades, there has to be two people to trade. So, if one team isn’t interested in trading, it’s really not a conversation. That’s the nature of the game we’re involved in.”
Do you believe Chip? For me, I probably don’t believe a word he says. I’d be really surprised if the Eagles weren’t doing everything they could to move up to draft Mariota. Those were all the reports at the time – and could every single reporter be wrong on that? Like … every … single … one?
In case you weren’t aware, the Eagles did not trade up to get Marcus Mariota. Instead, Chip Kelly was fired with one game remaining in the 2015 season. And then Howie Roseman traded up in 2016 to draft Carson Wentz with the second overall pick in the draft. And then the Eagles won the Super Bowl before I died.
You can listen to the full podcast with Chip here.
You can follow Nick Piccone on Twitter (@nickpiccone) and e-mail him at [email protected]. Subscribe to his podcast on iTunes here and listen live on WildfireRadio.com every Friday at 6pm. Click here to read his pro wrestling articles on PhillyVoice. Follow Philly Influencer on Twitter (@PHL_Influencer), Facebook and Instagram.