The Marcus Mariota talk surrounding the Philadelphia Eagles just will not end. Two major rumors have come into the picture today about the Eagles finding creative ways to jump up to the second pick of the draft and snag quarterback Marcus Mariota. While plenty of three-team rumors have been brought around, today's comes from a pretty reliable talk show host source.
Mike Francesca of WFAN in New York, the afternoon drive talks show host for many years whose involvement with WFAN goes back almost 30 years, believes that the Eagles and Mariota may happen after all (via Philly Voice):
"I happened to be chatting with some folks in the NFL about the draft. This is from a pretty credible source. There is a route being paved by the Eagles to actually go after Mariota. I was not convinced there was, because of how much it would cost, but he has actually tried to create a lane, Chip Kelly, to get from 20 to the top of the draft. Not to one, but maybe two, or three, or four, depending on where he needed to get to, to get to Mariota.
I think he would have to get to two, myself. I still think Winston will be the first player chosen, or traded out of that first pick. I’ll just lay the one out for you that I actually heard. The Cleveland Browns have the 12 and the 19 and they’re interested in Bradford. They’re interested in Bradford. It would include Manziel going back to the Eagles and Bradford going to the Browns, the 12 and the 19 going to the (Eagles), the 20 going to the (Browns)… one spot doesn’t make much difference, but that was the trade as explained to me… and Manziel’s contract going to the Eagles.
So the Eagles would end up not only with Mariota, but also Johnny Manziel in this scenario.
What does Sam Bradford think of his status with the Philadelphia Eagles? He is not all that sure. Bleeding Green Nation transcribes a Jason Cole report on Bleacher Report video piece that suggests that Bradford is unsure of his own status with the Eagles:
"Contract talks between Sam Bradford and the Philadelphia Eagles have been basically non-existent so far for a very good reason. In talking to sources around the league and close to Bradford, basically what’s happened is Bradford is not willing to accept a substandard deal based on the injuries that he’s suffered the past two years and have kept him off the field.
The reason is really obvious: he has a lot of money left in the bank from that $50 million signing bonus he got being the No. 1 overall pick in 2010.
However, if you go on the other side of this, Bradford wants to play this out and see what his real value is out on the market and assuming that he can get back to the levels that he showed during the early part of the 2013 season.
In addition to all of that, Bradford doesn’t know where he’s going to be. Yes, he believes the Eagles are going to keep him at this point in time, trust them, but only so far because the [2015 NFL Draft] has not played out. So he believes there is still a possibility that he could be traded somewhere else. And if that’s the case, he wants to wait to see whether that’s a team he ultimately wants to stay with long-term."
With the draft looming Thursday next week, Bradford should know soon enough.
Eagles fans, too, likely want to know what will happen with their football team. Expect the next six days to be full of trade rumors until we see whose name is called.
