Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly isn't afraid to exile productive players. Just ask DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy. And while Philadelphia has put together back-to-back 10 win seasons, fans have to ask themselves if this strategy will hurt the team in the long run. Jason Cole of Bleacher Report seems to think that Kelly's willingness to move on from players will sour potential free agents on coming to Philly.
"In talking to players around the league about these moves, they were left a little leery of Chip Kelly, asking 'what exactly is he doing?' It's not just LeSean McCoy that he just traded. He let go of Todd Herremans, he's let go of Cary Williams, he's let go of Trent Cole and this is a year after letting go of DeSean Jackson. And all of a sudden players are looking going, 'Does chip Kelly value players in this league or does he value his own system and basically is he full of himself or does he understand it's about talent.' So ultimately, while the Eagles now have about $50 million in cap space, you have to wonder if players are going to sit there and say, 'I'm not sure if I want to play for the Eagles cause I'm not sure that Chip Kelly is going to hold on to good players over the long run."
Kelly has indicated a clear belief in his offensive system with these bold moves. Will other players be wary of signing with the Eagles for fear of a quick and unexpected release? That has yet to be determined.
One theory Cole floated was that Philly was opening up so much cap space so that they could address several needs in free agency while trading away a handful of draft picks to move up for a quarterback.
"The other thing about the $50 million is, is he doing this as part of the move to get Marcus Mariota by saying I'm going to buy all my players in free agency and trade all my picks for Mariota."
We all saw how the previous free agent frenzy for the Eagles ended when the "Dream Team" failed to make the post-season for two consecutive seasons. Is Kelly leading Philly down a similar path, or is he instituting a radical new plan that will ultimately pay off?
