Dumbest move of the NFL offseason

[Matt]

I nominate the Eagles for giving Chip Kelly total control over personnel. Everything he has done since looks like an unmitigated disaster. Bradford for Foles AND you give up a 2nd rounder? You give up the younger better qb for a guy who has blown out the same knee 2 yrs in a row. And you give up draft position? You trade McCoy for a player coming off an injury. You let Maclin walk. You need to be waterboarded so we can find out how much Jerry Jones is paying you to wreck the Eagles.

[Evas]

I nominate the Eagles for giving Chip Kelly total control over personnel. Everything he has done since looks like an unmitigated disaster. Bradford for Foles AND you give up a 2nd rounder? You give up the younger better qb for a guy who has blown out the same knee 2 yrs in a row. And you give up draft position? You trade McCoy for a player coming off an injury. You let Maclin walk. You need to be waterboarded so we can find out how much Jerry Jones is paying you to wreck the Eagles.

He may not be done yet. The Bradford moves could be part of a larger plan to acquire Mariotta.

What he has done is risky, but I am hesitant to come to a judgement on everything until after the draft.

[Bill]

What he has done is risky, but I am hesitant to come to a judgement on everything until after the draft.

Yeah, I'm gonna wait until I see the Eagles play next year. He's definitely being unconventional and he is definitely not building a fantasy football roster. I'm fine with both of those tactics. But he's also put himself in an undefendable position if he does not succeed.

[Coqui]

As a Rams' fan, I can say that I am a huge fan of Chip Kelly's roster machinations. Sam Bradford, even for the 15 minutes that he has been healthy, has not been a very good QB. His accuracy is atrocious. I lost count of the number of times that I saw him miss a wide open receiver by 5 yards. Yes, he's had some unfortunate injuries, and yes, it's hard to have 3 offensive coordinators

I tend to think that Nick Foles is a flash in the pan, but at ~$10M cheaper, I'll take it AND the pick, thankyouverymuch.

[Borealis]

, and yes, it's hard to have 3 offensive coordinators

3??? I bet Alex Smith thinks Bradford is a lucky guy! He had, what, 7 in San Francisco?

[Coqui]

Yeah, Bradford apologists here in STL were always citing Alex Smith as a good comp for Bradford for that reason. FWIW, Bradford had 3 different OCs in his 1st 3 years in the NFL. Not sure what, if anything, that had to do with his not being able to hit the broadside of a barn.

[Matt]

I'm not buying the "wait and see what he does next" angle. At this point that's the best you can say about the deal. But it's unlikely to be the case. SI's Peter King is reporting that Kelly is smitten with Bradford. If so, wow. But tip of the cap to the Rams. Another great trade to go with their fleecing of Washington in the RG3 deal.
Now what do the Rams do with the cap space and maybe some leverage to move up in the first round?

[Coqui]

Now what do the Rams do with the cap space and maybe some leverage to move up in the first round?

[klewis]

As much as I question Chip Kelly's moves, I would still feel much more optimistic if I was an Eagles fan rather than the 49ers.

Chip's track record at Oregon was great but it has yet to be proven if it can translate to the pros especially when you are not dealing with 18-22 year olds. Steve Spurrier and Nick Saban couldn't do it. Success or failure, one thing is for certain that it will surely be entertaining in Philadelphia to see how it all pans out.

For the record, I am not high on Bradford as well.

[Mike Dunn]

Its been quite a 24 hours here in Philly . Fans are apoplectic. Even my grandma could tell this was a huge overpay for Bradford. Everyone assumed Chip had/has something else up his sleeve, but today Kelly claimed that that's not the case, and Bradford's his guy. He's not trying to somehow trade up for Mariota. The refrain that everyone is repeating is simple: it makes no sense.

the wizard of iggles.jpg

[Morris Ragland]

I feel you, sister.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:12464138

[Matt]

Let me be the first to trash the Demarco Murray signing. Guy has had one healthy season. This past season, when the Cowboys used and abused him. Way too many carries. He will likely never see 1000 yards again.

His great season came behind what is the best O line in football. Philadelphia doesn't have nearly that good of a line upfront. In fact the line could actually be sort of questionable heading into next season.

Aside from his inability to stay on the field in all seasons except one, Murray also has a history of fumbling.
I don't see this move being a good one at all. Especially long term. The cap space locked into Bradford and Murray could have been much better used.

[Vic]

Eagles fan here.

Last season, the offense succeeded in spite of McCoy and Foles, not because of them (in fact, by most advanced statistics, McCoy was the worst - or among - qualified RBs in the league... stats like yards after fist contact, etc. He really declined last year). Chip's offense relies on 2 things (other than moving fast, obviously): making smart decisions with the ball and ALWAYS moving forward. With that in mind, Foles made way too many dumb decisions with the ball last year (I sincerely don't know why he was so obsessed with throwing ducks off his back foot), hence why he led the league in INTs when he got injured and McCoy was CONSTANTLY forcing us into 2nd/3rd and longs because he was dancing behind the line of scrimmage and losing yards (he led the league in negative rushing attempts over the past 2 years, btw).

On the flip side, now we have 2 legitimate North-South runners behind the statistical best run blocking line in the league (not sure where you were going with that one... I recommend looking things up first). Having two of them also, obviously, mitigates their injury concerns. McCoy is explosive and can break big runs (well, at least, he could... stats kind of point towards last year being the beginning of the end - right on time at the age of 27 for shift RBs), but Chip much prefers a steady 4-5 every time as opposed to 1 here, 3 here, -1 here and then 20. He'll fit perfectly in Buffalo since Rex will have an inept offense that relies on him breaking a few to score and an elite defense to hold the lead once he does, though - assuming he can bounce back. Oh, and btw, the Eagles ran the most running plays (by a decently wide margin) out of the shotgun of any team in the league last year. Any care to guess who the two top FA RBs in yards/attempt from the shotgun were last year? Murray #1, Matthews #2. I mean, really, the upgrade to scheme fit is uncanny.

For the QB position, I'll have to wait and see on whether or not Bradford can put it all together, but he is undeniably more talented than Foles... who just isn't very talented. Also, the 'glass' meme seems funny since both ACLs were freak injuries and not the result of normal contact or anything. Also, to stick to the narrative, I looked up and saw that Bradford has the 3rd lowest interceptions/attempt rates over the last 5 years, so we get a huge upgrade in the 'making smart decisions with the ball' department. I also looked up and saw that St. Louis was consistently among the league leaders in sacks allowed over the first 3 years of his career... and also in passes dropped. So, there seems to be at least a decent amount of reasons to believe he can be better in this obviously better situation for him.

As for the other moves... the acquisition of Alonso for McCoy was a stroke of genius. A clearly declining 27 year old back with a 12M cap hit for a former DRotY on an entry level deal? That is some next-level Madden wizadry there. And, once again, this isn't a torn hamstring or something that he will never fully recover from, ACLs really aren't that big of a deal once you're done rehab. One of the easiest injuries to put in the 'blinders' so to speak. So we pair Alonso with Kendricks (another elite young ILB) in the middle, flank them with Barwin and Graham (whom were both studs last season) and then place them behind one of, if not the, best 3-men down-lines in the league (Cox is so, so good). The secondary is still a bit of a concern without a FS (McCourty broke my heart), but, it would be borderline impossible to get WORSE corner play than we did last year, and I actually like the Maxwell and Thurman signings. Particularly the latter, because it will allow Boykin and he to have a camp battle to divy up the #2 and nickel roles.

Overall, we are obviously better than we were last year both in terms of talent and scheme fit. Maclin walking and the, seemingly unnecessary 2nd rounder in the Bradford deal, are the only logical complaints anyone can have, imo. For the latter, at least he had the presence of mind to punt it to next year and for the former, I don't blame that at all for not matching that crazy deal KC gave to a glorified #2 receiver. This defense could legitimately be top 10 next year... maybe even top 5 if we draft a safety (Collins, maybe?) and he hits the track running - our front 7 is THAT good. Offensively, I truly believe Kelly can score with anyone. I mean, look what he did with Nick ****ing Foles and Mark ****ing Sanchez last year... WITH a RB (in his run heavy offense) that didn't fit his scheme and was performing pretty poorly. But even there I think we upgraded everywhere but WR - but a full year under Huff and Matthews' belts could mitigate the loss of Maclin as well, since I think they both have similar upsides as he did (#2s).

Maybe I'm just drinking the kool-aid... but how can you not with Chip at the helm? The guy took Andy Reid's leftovers and spun **** into gold for back to back 10-6 seasons with no quarterback and a sieve secondary both seasons. Now that he has HIS guys in place... I'm really excited to see what he can do.

[Rory]

When I first saw the Bradford for Foles trade I was scratching my head also. Trading Foles was a good idea since he really doesnt fit the offense the Eagles are running and he's gonna want to get overpaid here shortly. The draft pick is what baffles me more than anything. He sweetened the deal for some reason. I can't imagine Kelly thinks Bradfords the answer. I think he's always been over hyped. But of course Kelly's gonna say he's his guy. Why diminish his value? He just might be up to something. And I don't think this Mariotta cat is the answer. I don't think he's gonna make it as a good NFL QB. There might be something else in the mix.

As far as Maclin and McCoy. Hell ya get rid of the me first players. McCoy always ran soft imo. Murray hits the holes a lot harder which is the way the Eagles offense works. That offense doesn't want to dance around and stretch things out, it wants to hurry up and hit the hole before you catch your breath. I think that's a good fit. Bradford not so much.

How bout Dallas' answer for Murray? lol McFadden? This must be a smoke screen for someone they like in the draft with the hopes they'll fall to them.

And how about the Colts signing a couple of aging stars without addressing their dismal offensive line. Luck's ability to move around and the strength to shed rushers makes the Oline seem like they're as good as dismal. Cause really their much worse than that. Imagine how good Luck would be if he had time? OMG he would be unstoppable. This is coming from a die hard Packers fan.

Speaking of the Packers how about their moves.....................insert crickets & tumble weed here...........................
We did resign Cobb which was a relief. Not much else, but that's how we roll.

[Matt]

On the flip side, now we have 2 legitimate North-South runners behind the statistical best run blocking line in the league (not sure where you were going with that one... I recommend looking things up first)

Okay, so I looked it up (cheap shot, by the way)

Dallas 4.6 ypr
Eagles 4.2

Dallas 147.1 ypg
Eagles 124.5 ypg

So, I don't know what new fangled down the rabbit hole statistics you are looking at, but clearly the Cowboys were superior at running the football.

Nobody in their right mind can say that Eagles are a better team up front than the Cowboys. Hell, I hate the freaking Cowboys, but facts are facts. That is an awesome offensive line they have put together there. 3 first round picks, all playing at All-Pro level. 3 Pro Bowlers, 2 first team All-Pro's, and that's not even counting Witten, the pro-bowl TE. Young too, ages 23,24,24,26, and 30. They are just going to get better. Healthy too, missed a total of 6 games did the OL starters for the Cowboys. Only Peters played all 16 games for the Eagles. Every other starting offensive lineman missed a minimum of 4 games. 10 different starting offensive lines for the Eagles this past season. Old and aging.

Murray carried the ball a mind boggling 436 times(including playoffs) last season. Backs almost never recover from that type of workload unless their name is Eric Dickerson. Remember what a beast Larry Johnson was in 2006 when he carried the ball 429 times (including playoffs)? Go look at his stats there after. Never played in more than 12 games in season, was miserable the following year, played in 8 games, 3.5 ypc. Backs who carry more than 370 times in a season are toast afterwards. Done. Never the same. Of course Murray gets hit with the double - whammy of having had a huge increase in workload, which the linked article also details the effects of. When Murray misses half the season next year, we'll see who didn't 'look it up'. Like I said, he never see's 1000 yards again.

As for calling Maclin a glorified #2 receiver, that sounds more like sour grapes than objective reasoning. He was 9th in the league in receiving yards, and that's with Sanchez throwing the ball half the season. What did Huff have, 8 catches last year? But he'll get to play since he's an Oregon guy.

Obviously Chip thinks he knows what he's doing. But there is reason you never give an ego driven coach (and they are ALL ego driven) the personnel decisions. You need someone who does the analysis without the ego getting in the way.