NFL Draft Rumor: Could the Eagles trade up for Marcus Mariota with the Buccaneers? By Sander Philipse on Jan 4, 2015 The Philadelphia Eagles gave Chip Kelly control over their personnel to get him to stay in Philadelphia. And as a result, weve seen a lot of speculation that the newly-minted personnel czar would trade up to the number one overall pick for Marcus Mariota, giving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a fortune in the process. So much speculation that beat writers are writing about it. Why this makes sense Chip Kelly coached Marcus Mariota in college, has repeatedly spoken about his belief in the young quarterback, needs a franchise quarterback and now has the power to make personnel decisions. If hes convinced Mariota is a franchise quarterback, he could certainly break the bank to get another piece for his already-pretty-good offense. Why this doesnt makes sense It would cost the Eagles far too much to trade up from number 20 to the first overall pick. For comparisons sake, when Washington traded up for Robert Griffin III, they gave up three first-round picks and a high second-round pick -- to move up just four spots. Or consider the Atlanta Falcons, who traded two first-rounders, a second-rounder and two fourth-rounders for Julio Jones in 2011 -- a move of 21 picks. The cost of moving up is dictated by the market, of course, and theres a chance this wouldnt be quite so expensive if the Eagles are the only team willing to trade up -- but then theyd have to be the only team to have a really positive view of Marcus Mariota, and that seems unlikely. The Eagles could throw in some players, like Nick Foles, but that would only harm their team in different ways. Simply put: trading away a treasure chest for a single player is probably not in the Eagles plans. Price isnt the only issue, though. Trading down that far would rob the Bucs of the ability to select one of the best players in the draft, while they need an infusion of talent. It would also mean passing on both of the top quarterbacks in this draft, even though quarterback is one of the most important needs the Buccaneers have. If they genuinely like Marcus Mariota or Jameis Winston, its doubtful that the Eagles could offer them enough to trade down anyway. Finally, theres a bit of meta-analysis the Bucs would have to do if the Eagles did offer them an exhorbitant price for the first overall pick: if Chip Kelly thinks Marcus Mariota is worth trading away that many assets, shouldnt the Bucs be really intrigued by him, too? Kelly probably knows more about Mariota than anyone in the NFL currently -- and if he feels that strongly about him, the Bucs would have to at least think about what that means for Mariotas quality and their evaluation. Odds of this happening Minuscule. There are so many conditions here that its almost impossible: Chip Kelly has to really love Mariota, has to be willing to give up a ridiculous amount to get him, the Bucs have to be willing to trade down that far and they have to not like Mariota and Winston. Not very likely.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 04:00:01 +0000
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