The Philadelphia Eagles have been the most active team this offseason and after making the trade for Sam Bradford, many in the media have continued to speculate that Chip Kelly will look at trading up to draft Marcus Mariota and one team to watch is the Tennessee Titans, as they have the number two pick in the draft and a major need at quarterback coming into 2015.
The Eagles traded Nick Foles for Bradford in a surprising move and following that trade, there was rampant speculation that Kelly would look at moving up to take Mariota. According to ESPN.com, while Kelly said to the media that Bradford was not acquired to be a "trade chip", Josina Anderson reports that many coaches and scouts around the NFL are "not convinced" that the Eagles will keep Bradford.
While that doesn't necessarily mean that Kelly will make a trade, there is a ton of time left until the NFL draft and things could change. Many have pushed the Mariota and Eagles narrative because of his past connection to the coach through his time at Oregon, but he also seemingly is a perfect fit for Kelly's offense. The reason speculation became so wild once the Bradford trade went down was because to the naked eye, a player coming off of two ACL surgeries is not a great fit for the offense that Kelly runs.
Kelly had praise for Mariota and Bradford when asked about the potential for a deal and Kelly added to reporters that the team "will never mortgage our future" to make a wild deal for Mariota. Even with all of that said, the Eagles still have the ammunition to make a trade if they want to, even after giving up draft picks for Bradford. The team gave up more than the Rams in the deal and that was a surprise to many and also helped some reinforce the argument that Kelly will not go up for Mariota. Tony Kornheiser on ESPN said that if Kelly sees Mariota as the "perfect fit" for his system, he has no issue with the team trading multiple picks to get him. Kelly may not follow that same logic, but many scouts have said Mariota would be a good fit for his system.
According to ESPN.com, the Eagles are also considering other quarterback moves, as they brought in Tim Tebow for a workout and also are taking offers on backup Matt Barkley. The team signed back Mark Sanchez this offseason and Kelly is comfortable with him in the offense if he needs to start, which is what happened last season when Foles was injured. Chris Mortensen at ESPN.com writes that the Eagles would take a "late round pick" for Barkley if teams are interested.
The Titans are a team that could get involved in all of this, as they have a need at quarterback if they don't see Zach Mettenberger as the future. The Buccaneers are likely taking Jameis Winston number one and that means teams like the Eagles, Browns and Redskins could look at trading up, as all are reportedly interested in Mariota, according to Pro Football Talk. Bradford has mossed over 40 games in the past six years and while his injury issues could be behind him, Kelly is taking a major risk.
