Is Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford a pawn in coach Chip Kelly's play for Marcus Mariota? Some in the NFL reportedly believe Kelly only traded for Bradford in order to bait the Tennessee Titans into giving up the No. 2 pick of the 2015 NFL draft, which Kelly would then use to select Mariota.
Kelly sent quarterback Nick Foles, a 2015 fourth-round pick and a 2016 second-round pick to St. Louis on March 10 for Bradford and a 2015 fifth-round pick. The move came as a surprise to many, but according to ESPN's Josina Anderson, landing Bradford wasn't Kelly's endgame.
Anderson tweeted Sunday she had heard at least two coaches at a pro day say they weren't convinced Bradford would remain in Philadelphia. Those coaches, according to Anderson, believe Bradford is just trade bait for Tennessee since the signal caller doesn't fit into Kelly's system.
The Titans reportedly were in talks with St. Louis for Bradford, but Rams coach Jeff Fisher ultimately decided Philadelphia had the better offer because of Foles. Assuming Tennessee still covets Bradford and isn't sold on any quarterback - namely Mariota or Jameis Winston - being worth a No. 2 pick, Kelly is in a better position to try to entice the Titans into trading down. Some believe Kelly's target is Mariota, who ran Kelly's explosive up-tempo offense at Oregon.
Although it'd make sense for Kelly to try to bring in his former pupil, he denied having any intention of trading the injury-prone Bradford.
"We did not bring Sam in here to be a (trade) chip," Kelly said last week, via NJ.com. "I'm the only Chip here."
