Much has been made of Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip
Kelly’s penchant for parting ways with talented football players in order to
create his kind of culture in the locker room.
DeSean Jackson was the first and many followed this past offseason as
Kelly gained total control of personnel over Howie Roseman. The trade of running back LeSean McCoy, the
release of all-pro guard Evan Mathis and most recently the trade of cornerback
Brandon Boykin raised eyebrows across the National Football League.
 |
| Associated Press |
Wide receiver Riley Cooper is still with the team two years
after uttering a racial slur in public.
As a result, the public has questioned Kelly’s ability to handle
egos. McCoy and Boykin both made
comments following their departures from the team that insinuated Kelly does
not work well with the black players on his team.
In today’s world, it’s easy for someone who has made
decisions as bold as Kelly’s to be misunderstood. That is what has happened here as the
third-year coach decided to put the team through a roster makeover in the
offseason and the motives behind his moves were blown out of proportion.
Chip Kelly’s job is to win football games for the
Eagles. Who cares if he does not relate
well with certain players on the team? That’s not what he’s getting paid to
do. Granted, culture has certainly
driven some of his moves but if he feels that creating a certain culture is
necessary to win then what’s the big deal?
While his decisions have people questioning if Kelly is a racist, there
are football reasons behind many of his moves as well.
Let’s start with the trade of McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for
inside linebacker Kiko Alonso. After
taking heat for not getting anything for Jackson in 2014, Kelly moved McCoy and
his hefty cap hit to Buffalo for a 24-year old inside linebacker who appears to
be fully healthy after missing all of 2014 with a torn anterior cruciate
ligament. Alonso had an impressive
rookie season in 2013 and with two years left on his rookie contract serves as
a cheap option for production on defense.
To replace McCoy, Kelly signed former Dallas Cowboy DeMarco
Murray. Murray’s downhill, straight
ahead running style is different than McCoy’s who tended to dance and look for
big plays at times when nothing was there. In Kelly’s fast-paced offense, a
back like Murray who’s going to take what’s there and gain yards as often as
possible is very important to keep the chains moving. So with the McCoy trade, Kelly got a young
and cheap inside linebacker who figures to be a key contributor on defense in
Alonso and replaced McCoy with a better scheme fit in Murray.
Trading Brandon Boykin was a classic case of getting something
for someone who isn’t in your long-term plans.
Boykin is in line for a new contract following the 2015 season. There’s a strong possibility that contract
would not be another one with the Eagles had the nickel corner remained on the
roster in 2015. The Eagles brought in an
influx of defensive backs as Kelly continued to remake the team in the spring. They signed Byron Maxwell and Walter
Thurmond. E.J. Biggers and Jaylen
Watkins will compete for spots on the roster in camp. They drafted Eric Rowe,
JaCorey Shepherd and Randall Evans. Nolan Carroll is returning for his second
season with the Eagles with a chance to start opposite Byron Maxwell as the
team’s other cornerback. Boykin was
hopeful to be given a chance to move outside and start but with the way the Eagles
approached the offseason it’s clear they wanted to move in a different
direction and so they gave Boykin a chance to start outside on a Pittsburgh
Steelers team in desperate need of cornerbacks.
The Eagles got a 5th round draft pick back for
Boykin but it could be a 4th round selection if Boykin plays 60% of
Pittsburgh’s defensive snaps in 2015. So
it seems like a win-win. Boykin should
get a chance to play outside in Pittsburgh and if all goes well the Eagles will
get a 4th-round draft pick back for him which is decent value in
return for someone who you weren’t planning on keeping around beyond this
upcoming season anyway.
At the end of the day, Chip Kelly is a football coach that
is trying to win games. Say what you
want about any preferential treatment that may or may not exist, this looks
like the best roster Kelly has to work with in his three years with the Eagles
and he was the one who assembled it.
Winning solves everything and if everything goes according to planned,
no one will care about how well Chip Kelly relates with his players.
No comments:
Post a Comment