Eagles coach Chip Kelly may have ruled out trading up to get quarterback Marcus Mariota, but Mariota hasn’t.
Via Zach Berman of Philly.com, Mariota on Friday declined to write off the possibility that the man who brought him to Oregon will also bring him to Pennsylvania.
“I wouldn’t doubt it, but Coach Kelly and the Eagles are going to do what’s best for the team,” Mariota said, via Berman. “We’ll see what happens.”
What happened this week was a fairly big trade, with the Eagles acquiring Sam Bradford in exchange for Nick Foles. By then signing Bradford’s college roommate, DeMarco Murray, to a five-year deal, it appears that Bradford will be the quarterback, at least for 2015.
“It’s going to come down to whatever they want to do,” Mariota said. “I’m not sure what Coach Kelly wants to do. He hasn’t talked to me about it. He’s been more of a mentor to me, whenever I needed someone. If I need to talk to him about anything, he’s kind of that person who’s been there for me.”
He probably won’t be there for Mariota if Kelly isn’t literally there for Mariota on the first day of the draft. For now, it looks like a long shot. Maybe it always was. But with Kelly making it clear that he regards the draft as a crapshoot, why wouldn’t he consider mortgaging a future of shooting craps for a sure thing?