Chip Kelly has a plan.
He has to, right?
Why else would the Philadelphia Eagles head coach cut Cary Williams, Todd Herremans and Trent Cole, trade away LeSean McCoy and most likely allow Brandon Graham, Nate Allen and Bradley Fletcher to walk away in free agency?
Because it's all...part of the plan.
Kelly, armed with a possible $50 million in cap space, is planning to be a major player once the NFL free agency period opens on March 10, per a report from Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.
"It sets the stage for Kelly to rebuild his secondary - he is very fond of Bill Belichick and watched Belichick take a revamped secondary to another Lombardi a few weeks back - and sources continue to tell me that corner Byron Maxwell and safety Devin McCourty are top targets for Philly," writes La Canfora.
McCourty was expected to get the franchise tag from the Patriots, but New England decided to tag kicker Stephen Gostkowski instead, setting the stage for the rangy free safety to hit free agency. McCourty is just 27 and finished last season with 68 tackles, two interceptions and six passes defensed.
The Eagles have been tied to Maxwell, also 27, for months. He's an ascending young cornerback who performed as the Ringo of the Seattle Seahawks vaunted Legion of Boom secondary for the past two seasons.
Kelly is also enamored with Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Jason Worilds, per La Canfora.
"They may go ahead and risk overspending on a pass rusher, particularly Pittsburgh's Jason Worilds, who sources say the Eagles have particular interest in and fits their scheme."
The Eagles, per ESPN's Adam Caplan, would have nabbed Worilds last season if not for the Steelers giving him the transition tag. He's another ascending young defender Philadelphia could add and keep for several seasons.
As for their own pending free agents, La Canfora believes the extra cap space from all the cuts will go directly toward the effort to keep wide receiver Jeremy Maclin.