I have gone on record questioning a lot of the moves Chip Kelly has made this offseason. But whether you agree with Chip Kelly's moves or not, you have to respect him for the press conference he just gave. He did not hide. He faced the media for 20+ minutes, answering question after question on topics that ranged from the power struggle with Howie Roseman, trading LeSean McCoy, losing Jeremy Maclin to free agency, and the blockbuster trade involving Nick Foles and Sam Bradford.
Without wasting anymore time, let's get right to it:
Power Struggle in Front Office: Chip Kelly denied having any role in the front office shakeup, saying the decision was entirely Jeffrey Lurie's:
Chip: Jeffrey Lurie made the decision to give me personnel control. #Eagles
— Matt Lombardo (@MattLombardo975) March 11, 2015
In response to whether Sam Bradford was his quarterback: "Yea, well Sam and Mark are. And I think we have to have two. I think it is really essential for us to get Mark back here. And then when the opportunity came up for us to get Sam, same exact thing. You don't want to lose Nick Foles? No you don't want to lose Nick Foles. But you're going to have to give something up to get something. The deal with Sam Bradford, if he never tore his ACL he would never be traded."
On whether the Eagles will trade up to draft Marcus Mariota: Laughter. "Let's dispell that right now. I think that stuff's crazy. You guys have been going with that stuff all along. I think Marcus is the best quarterback in the draft. But we will never mortgage our future to go all the way up to get someone like that because we have too many other holes that we have to take care of."
Welp. So much for the whole Mariota trade folks. Think it's safe to say that one isn't happening.
On Trade Offers for Bradford:
Chip says a team offered him a 1st round pick this morning for Sam Bradford. #Eagles
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) March 11, 2015
No one caught wind of this offer — at least that I have seen — but it was clear Chip was sending a message that Bradford had value around the league in response to the backlash the team received for the trade.
Decision to trade LeSean McCoy: Chip said the plan going into the offseason was to bolster the inside linebacker depth. "And then really the result of it is the money that was freed up. And the way that we looked at it is we got Kiko Alonso and Byron Maxwell for LeSean McCoy. The bottom line is almost every decision that you have make is governed by money. You'd love to keep every body if you could pay every body but it's not baseball where we are all limited by a cap number and you gotta give something up to get something. Did we want to lose LeSean? Certainly not….But really the biggest factor with LeSean was it was LeSean and the money and what could that get us? And we felt like we got two quality players back in return."
Chip also said that the Buffalo Bills leaked news of the deal while it was still being negotiated and before he had a chance to speak to LeSean McCoy. He seemed irritated by this fact, and was obviously trying to mend fences with McCoy, who was obviously angry that Chip Kelly did not call McCoy to tell him that he was traded.
Some other highlights include:
On losing Maclin:
Chip Kelly: We wanted Maclin back, it just didn't work out.
— 975TheFanatic (@975TheFanatic) March 11, 2015
Past Drafts: He also implicitly laid blame for the 2014 draft at the feet of Howie Roseman:
Chip said only difference now is that he has final say in draft. Big admission there.
— Geoff Mosher (@GeoffMosherCSN) March 11, 2015
A memorable one liner from Chip regarding not trading Sam Bradford:
Kelly says Eagles didn’t bring in Sam Bradford to be a trade chip. Said he’s the only Chip here.
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) March 11, 2015
Chip also confirmed that DeMeco Ryans will be back next year:
Chip: DeMeco will be back
— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) March 11, 2015
Overall, this was a press conference for the ages. I still have my doubts, especially about Sam Bradford, but I would be lying if I said it did not at least restore some confidence I had in Kelly.
Here are some final reactions to the press conference from around the league:
Chip is done. Heck of a press conference.
— Geoff Mosher (@GeoffMosherCSN) March 11, 2015
Really feel like Chip read everything over the last 24 hours and just wanted to fire back.
— Gregg Rosenthal (@greggrosenthal) March 11, 2015
Chip Kelly said Howie Roseman had final say on 2014 draft. So there's Marcus Smith pick. Talk about throwing a guy under the bus. #Eagles
— Bryn Swartz (@eaglescentral) March 11, 2015
Chip Kelly makes free agency fun
— NFL Access (@NFL_Access) March 11, 2015
Other takeaway from presser was Chip's rationale for why he thinks Bradford can be better is he thought STL's offense/personel was garbage
— Chris B. Brown (@smartfootball) March 11, 2015
If this is all a smokescreen and Eagles do get Marcus Mariota, standing ovation for Chip Kelly for making this happen. #Eagles
— Bryn Swartz (@eaglescentral) March 11, 2015
