The Philadelphia Eagles’ pursuit of Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota has hit a snag. Unable to work out a deal with the Tennessee Titans, who pick second on Thursday night, Philadelphia has reportedly set its sights on the top pick, according to ESPN.
Eagles now trying to trade for No. 1 pick to acquire Marcus Mariota, per report
Chip Kelly is hot after his former QB.
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Will the Tampa Bay Buccaneers give up the chance to take Jameis Winston so Philadelphia can jump up to No. 1? Chip Kelly hopes so. While it appears that Kelly is doing everything he can to trade up for his former quarterback at Oregon, ESPN’s Ed Werder reported many believe the trade is a long shot:
#NFL sources who know #Bucs coaching staff and management team best are convinced TB won't trade chance to draft Jameis Winston
— Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) April 30, 2015 Werder isn’t the only one who thinks that. Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times also reports that the Buccaneers are “committed to drafting Jameis Winston” and that the team “doesn’t feel it will receive enough value in a trade.”
It’s not surprising to hear that Philadelphia is having trouble getting a deal done with the Titans, as it was reported earlier on Thursday that the Titans are looking for an awful lot in return. Tennessee isn’t giving up the No. 2 overall pick and the opportunity to draft Mariota unless it gets “HUGEEEE value” in return, according to the report.
Philadelphia has been the team most persistently linked to Mariota due to his familiarity with Kelly. Mariota was successful running Kelly’s system, and though the Eagles traded for Sam Bradford, Mariota has fewer question marks from an injury perspective and Kelly obviously likes the young quarterback.
At this point, a deal could still happen with the Titans. It’s always seemed likely that the Titans are the team to trade with given the amount of needs the team has to address this offseason. Tennessee could also do well with Mariota under center, but acquiring a stockpile of picks could help the organization more. Then again, the same might be able to be said for Tampa Bay, but given how strongly the Bucs have been linked to Winston, it seems like a much bigger long shot.
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