The Philadelphia Eagles had a whirlwind of an offseason. Once head coach Chip Kelly officially obtained power over personnel moves, he wasted no time flexing his muscles. Gone were franchise mainstays like LeSean McCoy, Evan Mathis and Trent Cole. In their place stand a slew of new faces expected to push the Eagles over the solid-but-not-great 10-6 hump that has hung over the team for the past two seasons.
But which offseason addition was the best of all?
"Sam Bradford has a chance to be," ESPN Eagles reporter Phil Sheridan wrote. "With his injury history and the uncertainty of whether he'll fit in Chip Kelly's offense, though, I would say the safer choice is DeMarco Murray. Not only did the Eagles add the NFL's leading rusher, they removed him from the Cowboys' lineup. Even with an excellent offensive line, the Cowboys' running game became at least as much of an unknowable element as Bradford if. So Murray is the most certain impact addition in the division, but Bradford could wind up being the biggest difference maker. The Eagles had arguably the third or fourth best QB in the NFC East. If he reaches his potential, Bradford could be the best of the bunch."
That's a big if for the former No. 1 overall draft pick. Bradford is coming off his second ACL tear and hasn't taken a snap in the regular season since 2013. Whether or not he can stay healthy is a major question mark at this point. When healthy, however, he has been solid. In seven games in 2013, Bradford completed 60.7 percent of his passes while throwing for 1,687 yards with 14 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions.
Murray has also had his fair share of injury struggles, missing 11 games through his first three seasons before playing all 16 in 2014. But his dominant season last year and immense upside seems to outweigh the injury risk at this point. Eagles fans will have to wait to see if either player can propel Philly into the post-season.
