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Figure out Eagles' Chip Kelly? Don't be silly
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<!--googleon: all--><!--googleoff: snippet-->Don't bother trying to figure out what Chip Kelly is going to do on draft night. (Charles Fox/Staff Photographer) <!--googleon: snippet--><!--googleoff: all-->
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Sam Donnellon, Daily News Sports Columnist
<!--googleon: snippet--><!--googleoff: all--><!--googleon: all--><!--googleoff: snippet--> Posted: Tuesday, April 28, 2015, 3:01 AM<!--googleon: snippet--><!--googleoff: all-->
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WE ARE NEARING the end of "The Silly Season."
I, for one, am going to miss it.
Those aren't my words, by the way - "The Silly Season." They are Chip Kelly's, uttered during the NFL owners' meetings, and I couldn't agree with him more.
The final play of the Super Bowl to NFL draft day once was a time of peace. That is long gone, especially in places where baseball is not played or played badly, where the professional basketball team offers only entry-level jobs, where the Stanley Cup has become a historical footnote.
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<!--googleon: all-->OK, here.
Speculation, denial, more speculation, more denial. Mock drafts on the hour every hour, rumors, innuendos, rock and roller cola wars . . .
Chip Kelly sure as hell didn't start the fire.
But he's been as amusing through this season as he has been bemused.
Whether he was explaining he was the team's new general manager because that's the way Jeffrey Lurie wanted it, or declaring that "I'm the only chip here," after swapping out his starting running back and quarterback for another quarterback and, eventually, another running back, or even proclaiming back on March 11 that he was putting an end to talk about the Eagles trading up to acquire Marcus Mariota, Kelly has been as much of a jester as any single entity out there, and I'm including Jon Gruden.
Because the end of the talk was just the start. And like Kelly's offense when it's working, it hasn't stopped to take a breath. In fact each move, trade or allowed departure this season has become a cottage industry unto itself. Shrewd move. Clueless move. Strategic. Random.
A coach building his culture.
The machinations of an egomaniacal mad scientist.
So it will make perfect sense if we all wake up Friday morning and Mariota is our quarterback, Sam Bradford is Cleveland's quarterback, Mychal Kendricks and Fletcher Cox are Titans, and the Eagles are still in need of secondary help and depth on their offensive line.
Call it a May Day Christmas. I'm practically counting on it.
And if there's nothing in our stockings? Nothing under the tree but a big old bulky offensive lineman or a freakishly athletic defensive back? What if all "The Silly Season" begets is the doubt-riddled tandem of Bradford, Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow at quarterback, DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews in the backfield?
Will you be sad? Outraged? Will you feel misled even if the coach told you back in March not to be misled?
Will you be so resigned that you start watching the Phillies again?
Or will you assume there is yet another page to be turned, another chapter, as so often there is during Kelly's tenure. Remember when Tom Gamble was fired and lots of people thought Howie Roseman had won a power struggle and Kelly would soon bolt for college?
How'd that work out?
Remember when we kept waiting for that smoking gun to appear after DeSean Jackson was released? Remember how Chip couched the LeSean McCoy trade as salary maneuvering, a two-for-one deal that allowed him to fill holes at linebacker (Kiko Alonso) and cornerback (Byron Maxwell)?
Now, just a few months later, I keep reading and hearing, to maddening repetition, analysts debate the relative strengths and values of McCoy and Murray, as if Kelly dealt one for the other, as if the money is the same, as if Kelly had any idea he would have a shot to land the ex-Cowboy when he sent Shady packing.
Or did he . . . ?
Ah yes, the mad scientist theory. He traded for Bradford knowing that's how he could get Murray.
Even at the height of "The Silly Season," this is a theory only Inspector Clouseau could embrace.
But here's one that could hold water: Tennessee picks Mariota with the No. 2 pick because it is the best way to get the most for him. Without the time constraints of draft night, with as many as eight interested teams - maybe even more - rethinking what they would be willing to part with to obtain Mariota.
In other words, an extension of "The Silly Season." More speculation, potential trades. More debates about the Chipper's team-building strategy. A few days maybe. Maybe even a few more weeks.
We got nothing else to do. At least until the NBA lottery rolls around on May 19. Or the NHL draft in June. Or the baseball trade deadline gets close.
Or training camp begins . . .
Ah, hell, when is that again?
Read more at
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports...elly__Don_t_be_silly.html#KrMzO3i5VmxauqFr.99