According to a bevy of reports in the hours leading up to the first-round of the 2015 NFL Draft, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly is ready to pull out all the stops in order to land his former Oregon pupil and last season's Heisman Trophy-winner, quarterback Marcus Mariota.
Even more importantly for fans of the Eagles, according to at least one report, Kelly has the best chance of any team in the league of actually pull a deal off.
Per Peter King of Sports Illustrated, despite trade-up interest from both the Browns and Chargers along with the Eagles, the Tennessee Titans are most likely to enact a trade with Philadelphia and Kelly for the No. 2 pick.
"The Eagles have the most ammo, because they have Bradford," writes King. "The Chargers would have to include veteran quarterback Philip Rivers in a trade, and are unwilling to do so. The Browns would have to deal more than their two first-round picks this year for Mariota-and they're unwilling to do that as well."
While Bradford, the former first-overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, would likely be the centerpiece of an Eagles trade-up - either as part of the package sent directly to the Titans or to the Browns, who King says remain interested, for a first-rounder that would then become part of the trade-up with Tennessee - according to another report, Kelly has made several other major pieces available as well.
"Three veteran players other teams have viewed as potential trade pieces for Eagles: Fletcher Cox, Mychal Kendricks, Evan Mathis," Albert Breer of NFL.com tweeted.
Cox, still just 24, seemed to turn a corner last season, becoming the elite defender Philly thought he would be when they traded up in the 2012 NFL Draft to nab him. His stats don't jump off the page, but he was such a disruptive force that he affected the game on nearly every snap he played - watch the Seahawks game from last season for reference.
The Eagles just picked up the fifth-year option on Cox's contract, meaning he's under control for at least one more season.
Kendricks, likewise, has one more year left on his rookie deal and has stayed away from voluntary offseason workouts thus far, fueling speculation that he could be headed elsewhere. He revealed yesterday that he's staying away only to help guide his brother Eric through the pre-draft process, but then a report emerged from Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports that the Eagles were shopping him for a second-round pick.
Mathis, 33, has annually graded out as one of the best guards in the NFL, but his advanced age and major cap figure - $6.5 million for 2015, $7 million for 2016 - make him a prime candidate to head elsewhere.
Along with Bradford and potentially cornerback Brandon Boykin, the Eagles and Kelly have a plethora of trade assets that could prove enticing to any number of NFL teams.
Whether they'll prove enticing enough for the Titans to move the second-overall pick later this evening, remains to be seen.
