Eagles News: Stephen A. Smith suggests Chip Kelly is racist

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Tracking the Eagles free agency rumors - BGN
Free agency officially starts today. It's time to bookmark this link if you haven't already.

Talk of Off-Season Moves by Eagles - CBS Philly
The Eagles are expected to be very busy once NFL free agency begins tomorrow. KYW's Matt Leon spoke with Brandon Lee Gowton of BleedingGreenNation.com about the potential moves.

PST Show #95 – LeSean McCoy Trade, Eagles Total Overhaul & Interview With Brandon Gowton From Bleeding Green Nation
We bring to you, once again for his second interview on the show, Brandon Gowton who is the Manager, Editor & Chief and fantastic content writer for BleedingGreenNation.com. With an inside track and impeccable knowledge of the Eagles organization, coaches and players, Brandon gets into how this offseason is certainly one for the books. We discuss, of course, the future of the quarterback position, whether or not Oregon QB Marcus Mariota really is a viable option for the future, possible draft strategy, the linebacker corps, and how the Eagles may target free agents to help their depleted secondary. This is an interview you won’t want to miss.

Updated free agents who make sense as Eagles targets, offense edition - PhillyVoice
After re-signing Sanchez, the Eagles will likely be done shopping for QBs in free agency. Of course, we'll see soon enough whether the Eagles will successfully trade up high enough to draft Marcus Mariota, as I expect them to try to do, and what that means for Nick Foles' future.

Graham In, Gore Out? - Iggles Blitz
I watched tape of Jason Worilds and never fell in love with him. Good LB, but not a great pass rusher. Brian Orakpo’s injuries made me nervous. Pernell McPhee is a 280-pound chess piece more than a LB. Greg Hardy was fascinating, but had serious baggage and would have been very pricey. Graham really was the way to go.

Meet The Prospect: QB Marcus Mariota - PE.com
This has prompted speculation that Kelly will make an attempt to move up in the draft for Mariota. The Eagles hold the No. 20 pick, but Mariota is a consensus top-10 pick in mock drafts and could be the No. 1 overall selection. Yes, Kelly knows Mariota better than any other NFL team. Yes, Mariota played in a spread offense that makes it more difficult for most teams to project how he will transition to the NFL. Sure, Mariota would be familiar with the Eagles' scheme, to an extent, but it's not copy-and-paste what Kelly ran during his tenure at Oregon. There would be an adjustment period.

Do the Eagles have enough cap room to sign Darrelle Revis? - NJ.com
The Eagles went on a major spending spree on Sunday, handing out roughly $88 million in contracts to cornerback Byron Maxwell, quarterback Mark Sanchez and running back Frank Gore. But they still have money left over — and a player worth spending it on might become available.

Stephen A. Smith Basically Called Chip Kelly a Racist Today - Crossing Broad
Smith’s right about Riley Cooper. He mostly stinks, and the Eagles will be in a rough spot if he goes into this season as something more than a third option. But what Stephen A. didn’t mention is that while McCoy, Maclin, and Jackson are all black players who are now out of Kelly’s system, Todd Herremans is a white player that’s gone. And Byron Maxwell and Frank Gore are two black players whom Chip will reportedly sign during free agency. Confusion about what Kelly is doing and the way he’s doing it is understandable. I’m not sure I get all the moves he’s making (and I doubt I will until the season actually starts). But to put a racial spin on it is a bit ridiculous. Though, I’m pretty sure "A Bit Ridiculous" is what the "A" in Stephen A. Smith stands for.

Kelly reshaping Eagles roster with more moves to come - Inquirer
Once again, Chip Kelly is setting speed records. Free agency does not officially open until Tuesday at 4 p.m., but already the Eagles coach, general manager and king of everything has reshaped his roster with more additions and subtractions than any other team in the NFL. Legal tampering to Kelly is like lollipops for 3-year-old kids. His phone must operate exactly like his offensive linemen. Once he hangs up with one agent or general manager, he has to be back on the line within five seconds.

Is Chip Kelly setting up the Eagles for disaster? - CSN Philly
No matter how hard I try, I can’t help thinking about the Dream Team. No matter how hard I try, I can’t help thinking that this just isn’t the way to build a football team. No matter how hard I try, I can’t stop thinking about Ronnie Brown.

Free-Agent Roundup | Grantland
The early reports suggest Gore will see $5 million per year with $7.5 million guaranteed over the first two seasons. That’s the ninth-largest guarantee for any running back. In a market that’s been buyer-friendly for years, with DeMarco Murray, Ryan Mathews, and Justin Forsett around and Adrian Peterson likely to join them, could there really have been so much interest in Gore that the Eagles had to guarantee him that much money?

Grading the free agent moves so far - SB Nation
At that reported price, Maxwell becomes the fifth-highest paid corner in average salary per year, behind only Darrelle Revis, Patrick Peterson, Richard Sherman, and Joe Haden. That's some pretty good company. Is he worth that? Tough to know at this point, obviously, and playing in the Legion of Boom probably didn't hurt his market and perceived value. That said, playing opposite the rarely-targeted Richard Sherman meant that Maxwell saw the brunt of opposing quarterbacks' targets, and he was excellent nonetheless. As long as Philly asks him to do similar things as what he did in Seattle, this looks like a big pickup for a team that needs some help in the defensive backfield.

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