Eagles Draft Rumors: Adam Schefter believes Chip Kelly will try to trade Sam Bradford to get Marcus Mariota

Count NFL Insider Adam Schefter among those who think the Eagles are making a strong effort to trade up for Marcus Mariota. Schefter made an appearance on ESPN Radio on Thursday morning and had the following to say:

"Well I just think all this conversation about the No. 2 pick and what the Titans are going to do with it is 100% justified. I believe that pick is firmly in play. There were teams on the phone with the Titans throughout the day yesterday. And there are going to be multiple teams, multiple teams making an effort to try to come up to No. 2.

And all along, when you go back to this conversation from a couple of weeks ago, there were people around the league who thought, that essentially, Sam Bradford would be a chip for Chip Kelly. And the more you speak to people, the more you think that that’s going to be a distinct possibility at some point today.

And that to me is the real drama because this could impact a lot of different teams. The question is: do the Browns go and trade a [first round] pick to the Eagles for Sam Bradford? And the Eagles don’t do that unless they believe they can find a way to get up to No. 2.

But to think that the Eagles wouldn’t explore this, I believe would be a mistake. Because Chip Kelly has said that he believes Marcus Mariota is the best quarterback, the best player in this draft. Well if you can go get the best quarterback, or best player in the draft, why are you not going to go try and do that?

So I think at some point today, I will not be surprised if the Philadelphia Eagles make that attempt. And if they do, the only way they could do it would be with the assistance of the Cleveland Browns, who are willing and able to aid their efforts to try to get up to No. 2. [...]

So I think here’s the tip off today. If we get a trade today, with the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns, hold on to your seat-belts because that means that Philadelphia has got the ammunition to go up to No. 2. "

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Wow. So what Schefter is saying basically matches up with what Peter King is also reporting: the Eagles are open to using Bradford as a trade chip in order to move up to get Marcus Mariota. Bradford would presumably go to the Browns while the Eagles get a first round pick(s) in return in order to send to the Titans to trade up to No. 2.

This proposed deal is still far from official, and Schefter said there are still other teams in the mix. Still, he seems to believe it's very possible the Eagles are the ones who end up with Mariota.