Chip Kelly 1-on-1: Mariota, draft trades, Rowe's position

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It’s been a wild offseason, with players coming, players going, and — in Frank Gore’s case — players doing both.

The Eagles lost LeSean McCoy, but gained DeMarco Murray. The Eagles lost Jeremy Maclin, but gained Nelson Agholor. The Eagles lost Nick Foles, but gained Sam Bradford.

And so on.

Head coach Chip Kelly tore apart the Eagles’ roster after a 10-6 season, and after the draft ended Saturday night he discussed all the changes in an exclusive 1-on-1 interview with Derrick Gunn for NBC10’s Eagles Blueprint special, which aired Sunday night.

“We’re just trying to win,” Kelly said. “We’re trying to manage this team. I think when you look at it and you lose players like LeSean McCoy, who is the all-time leading running back here and one outstanding football player. But it was just a money decision. I’ve said that. You people can do whatever you want. It was a money decision and it was unfortunate that we lost him because I think the world of LeSean, I think he’s a talented player, but when you look at all the other maneuvers, we’re just trying to put the best team on the field when we have the opportunity to play in September.

“We’re gonna always continue to look at are we going to be able to do it, and that’s what this deal’s all about. In the process you lose some very talented players, but every team’s in the same situation when you’re making decisions on do we go here, do we try to get younger at this position, that’s just the nature of the game. Is it unfortunate? Yeah, it is because there are human beings involved in it, and that’s a tough part of it. I know how the city is attracted to these guys, they’re all-time great Philadelphia Eagles, but sometimes you have to make tough decisions and we had to make them. We feel like moving forward and we’re going to be able to put a pretty good team on the field when we get to play Atlanta (in Week 1).”

Here is more from Gunn’s exclusive 1-on-1 with Kelly:

Gunn: How disappointing was it to not land your former quarterback, Marcus Mariota, on Thursday?

Kelly: “He’s a talented player. A hundred drunks in a bar can tell you that he’s a hell of a quarterback. That wasn’t a question. But the question was what was the cost. And to be honest with you, I don’t know if anything would have gotten Tennessee off of the pick. I said the same thing. If I was in Tennessee’s situation, I wouldn’t have entertained any offers, either. That’s how talented he is. They were right. If we could have got a deal done because of how talented he is, yeah, but I said that a month ago and I think people thought that, they said that he’s just saying that for the sake of saying that. But I never thought a deal would be done because I know how talented he was and I knew that if I was in that situation I wouldn’t have made a deal either.”

Gunn: How extensive were trade talks with the Titans?

Kelly: "First time we ever talked to Tennessee was Wednesday. The draft was on Thursday. That’s why when you hear all these deals that were rumored, just logically think about it. Why would anybody make a deal — you don’t even know who it is — we have a great deal for No. 2 and then he goes No. 1, but what happened to that deal we talked about three months ago. It just doesn’t work that way. Deals are made within 24 hours of the draft, and most of the time they’re contingent on if our guy is available on the clock. I think it makes for good print, it makes for good media, it makes for good radio talk, but there was never any discussions between us and Tennessee until Wednesday, and the conversation on Wednesday was 'Let’s talk tomorrow.'"

Gunn: After taking USC wide receiver Nelson Agholor in the first round, you went all defense with your remaining picks. What was the thinking there?

 

Kelly: “It’s a combination that we felt we had needs at those positions and the talent met the needs. We don’t think we crossed the line in any situation when the need exceeds the talent, that’s when you get in trouble. If you’re going to look at your board and say who are we going to rate here, well we have a running back rated extremely high but we have a defensive back rated extremely high, we’re going to take the defensive back because we feel that DeMarco (Murray) and Ryan (Mathews) and Sprolesy (Darren Sproles), we have three real talented running backs so that’s how decisions are made because we always said the we’re going to take the best available athlete that fits. And when it’s equal, you’re going to take the position that’s a little bit more a need than a position that you feel that you’re pretty solid at.”

Gunn: Talking with Nelson Agholor, I was really struck by how much he loves playing the game. Is it a conscious decision on your part to draft kids who really have a passion for the game and want to be here?

Kelly: “I think when you first talk with Nelson and get a chance to be around him you can’t help but be impressed with how he ticks, what his makeup is. He’s a unique story in terms of being born in Nigeria and coming to the United States when he was 5 and what he’s done to put himself in this situation that he’s at now. Are you 100 percent sure when you draft? No. The draft, there’s always things you’ve never thought. You thought this year and hey it’s a little bit different. We felt really, really comfortable with him and with everybody we picked in the last couple of days here that they fit what we’re trying to get accomplished.”

Gunn: What will determine whether Eric Rowe is a cornerback or a safety?

Kelly: “He’ll start probably outside at corner because it’s easier to transition from cornerback to safety, but the unique thing with Eric is that he’s played both. He played nine games at corner this past year, but he’s also had 35, 36 starts at safety so just a matter of getting him comfortable. We think corners are harder to find than safeties so we’ll probably start him at corner and then make the decisions as we get through here. We have a lot of time left. It’s May 2, I think, is today the 2nd? It’s May 2nd. We don’t play until September. Sharp, real intelligent football player. I don’t think it’s going to overwhelm him, especially since the fact that he’s done it.”

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