The Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns have discussed and continue to discuss a trade that would send recently acquired Philly quarterback Sam Bradford to the Browns in exchange for currently-in-rehab quarterback Johnny Manziel and one of Cleveland's two first-round picks in the 2015 NFL Draft, according to a report from Mack Ferguson of Chat Sports.
"According to a source very close to an agent involved in the trade talks, the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles have engaged in multiple discussions to send Browns QB Johnny Manziel, who is currently in rehab, and draft picks, to the Eagles in exchange for Eagles QB Sam Bradford, who was recently acquired via trade from the St. Louis Rams," writes Ferguson.
"According to our source, both sides are very motivated to get a deal done, with each side valuing the other's QB more than the QB currently on their rosters."
It was a surprise to many when Eagles head coach Chip Kelly flipped last season's starting quarterback, Nick Foles and a 2016 second-round pick to the Rams in exchange for Bradford at the outset of the new league year. Afterwards though, Kelly intimated and Rams head coach Jeff Fisher freely admitted that another team had offered a first-round pick for Bradford, but that the deal had gotten done with Philly because Fisher wanted Foles.
It was then reported by Charley Casserly of NFL.com that the team to offer the first-round pick for Bradford was, in fact, the Browns.
As Ferguson notes, if the Browns are still motivated to add Bradford from the Eagles they have two first-round picks, No. 12 and No. 19, with which to do so, though the main sticking points to a deal thus far has been the Browns reluctance to include one of their first-rounders - they have offered their second-rounder, No. 43 overall - without the inclusion of more assets from Philly and the fact that Cleveland wants Bradford to sign a new contract worth much less than what he's currently slated to make.
For the Eagles, moving Bradford for Manziel seems idiotic unless Kelly believes back-up Mark Sanchez and Manziel would make for a quality starting duo.
Ferguson's report assuages the sudden, pulsing fear of Eagles fans by adding another layer of intrigue to the rumor.
"Our source went further and said that the Eagles are also hell-bent on moving up into the top 2-4 picks in the NFL Draft to select Marcus Mariota (who played under Eagles coach Chip Kelly at Oregon) and need the Browns 1st round pick to be a part of the deal so they can then use it as part of a deal to move into the top 4."
Kelly has long been rumored to be enamored with the idea of adding Mariota, his former Oregon signal-caller, but has said on more than one occasion this offseason that he won't jeopardize the future of his team in order to add one player.
If that one player though, is your future franchise signal-caller and a guy you believe can lead your team to consistent NFL success for a decade or more and, further, a Super Bowl berth, it may just be worth it in the end.
Stay tuned, folks. The looming 2015 NFL Draft's first-round is sure to be one heck of a night.
