The Philadelphia Eagles made a splash at the NFL Draft over the weekend after trading up to select quarterback Matt Barkley in the fourth round and many experts have graded the team as one of the best performing at New York, as they added players at need positions and found talent late in the draft.
Barkley joins a full and eclectic roster of quarterbacks for head coach Kelly, as the team already has Michael Vick, Nick Foles, Dennis Dixon and G.J. Kinne heading into the summer. It's unclear so far what type of offense Kelly will run in Philadelphia after having been so innovative, successful and high scoring at Oregon and he it also will be interesting to see the first coach in the NFL in a long time that never played or coached in the NFL at any level or position.
The selection of Barkley was the splashiest move the Eagles made, but they also brought in talent at several positions, including Lane Johnson at tackle and Zach Ertz at tight end, which could make Brent Celek trade bait. Speaking of trade bait, that is what makes the selection of Barkley so interesting, as the team has so many quarterbacks on the roster that one will need to go and the most likely is Nick Foles. According to NFL.com, both Foles and Celek could be traded eventually and one reason that Foles could be on his way out is the fact that Kelly did not draft him, but the prior regime of Andy Reid did and after bringing back Michael Vick and his old college quarterback in Dennis Dixon, it is unlikely that he will let one of those two go.
Foles was generating heat earlier in the year before the quarterback shuffle that occurred with names like Carson Palmer, Brady Quinn, Kevin Kolb and Ryan Fitzpatrick moving teams and he may not be in the same situation as Tebow, as he may have missed the boat on catching on with another team after so many undrafted free agents signed after the weekend. Barkley, Foles and Vick are the three "best" quarterbacks on the roster and even though Kelly likes Dixon, there is a chance he could be stashed as a backup on the practice squad until he is needed.
Vick is not the long-term solution anyway in Philadelphia and after drafting Barkley, Kelly has given himself a project that he can develop as he brings his offense to the NFL. The Eagles traded up to get Barkley and Kelly has already said that the quarterback competition in camp will be open for the taking after the Eagles went just 4-12 last season while losing 11 of 12 games during one stretch. Kelly's offense needed a solid tight end and Ertz should fit that mold perfectly for whoever wins the competition and Barkley could have the edge after getting familiar with Ertz during his time in the Pac-12.
