The NFL world continues to glean titillating nuggets and rumors of the discord in the Philadelphia Eagles front office that preempted the recent decision to remove Howie Roseman as GM and give full personnel control to head coach Chip Kelly.
Apparently, the issues in Philly, which existed almost solely between Kelly and Roseman and led to the ousting of Vice President of Player Personnel Tom Gamble, started in one place - the draft.
The two executives were never quite able to see eye to eye on either assessment or valuation, Bleacher Report NFL Insider Jason Cole said, pointing to second-round receiver Jordan Matthews as an instance of Kelly overvaluing a player he would eventually be able to get later.
"Chip Kelly and Howie Roseman were highly at odds over the first two years in draft strategy. Chip Kelly, for instance, wanted to take Jordan Matthews in the first round this last year. Howie Roseman basically had to explain to him, 'No, you're going to be able to get a guy like Matthews in the second round.' That happened in a number of other circumstances according to sources who I've talked to who understand the Eagles situation," Cole said on Bleacher Report's Inside Buzz.
"So basically Chip Kelly is now going to have to formulate his own strategy and how he handles the draft board, and he's going to have to hire another personnel person, and the question is: will that personnel executive, who Chip Kelly hires, be willing to stand up against Chip when he might be willing to overdraft a player and not understand the whole NFL strategy of the draft?"
There were recent rumors that Roseman and his scouting staff were unhappy with Kelly's coaches because they spent months setting up this past April's draft board only to have Kelly dismantle and reassemble it in his own image.
"...sources with knowledge of the situation have said that last May, Roseman's scouting staff was really ticked when the coaches were allowed to change a draft board that the scouts had set - part of the ongoing conflict that led to yesterday's restructuring," Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News reported earlier this week.
And Kelly himself admitted after the draft that there was at least one instance, involving fifth round defensive end Taylor Hart, in which Roseman had to talk him out of taking a player far too early.
"We had him rated a lot higher," Kelly said, according to Tim McManus of PhillyMag.com. "I know I say that a lot, but that's true for us. We would have taken him in the third. We're fortunate. I think Howie did a great job of how we ordered it today. The other guy [Florida DB Jaylen Watkins] would be gone first, so let's take him. He guaranteed me Hart would be there in the fifth, and he was right."
With Roseman now fully on the business side of things, it will be interesting to see what Kelly, given full reign to do what he chooses and value players the way he sees fit, does in player acquisition in the offseason.
