Eagles coach Chip Kelly sounds shocked that Brandon Boykin, who was traded from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh yesterday, is suggesting racial motivations in the decision to trade him.
“I don’t know. In talking to him last night I think he was stunned, he was disappointed. He really liked it here,” Kelly said.
Kelly said that when he informed Boykin he had been traded, Boykin took it like a pro and didn’t express any hard feelings.
“When he left here last night he shook my hand and gave me a hug, didn’t say anything,” he said. “I like Brandon. I just don’t know. I really don’t know.”
Kelly said the Steelers, who gave up a 2016 draft pick for Boykin, have been calling the Eagles for months about acquiring him in a trade. The Steelers recently upped their offer to either a fourth-round pick or a fifth-round pick, depending on Boykin’s playing time, and that was the offer the Eagles accepted.
“They actively pursued him. They wanted to trade for him at the draft and we turned it down,” Kelly said.
Kelly also said he would have liked to keep Boykin, but the Eagles think they have more good cornerbacks than they’ll be able to keep on the 53-player roster. So if they can get a draft pick for one of those cornerbacks, they’re going to do it.
“It more speaks to what our depth was at the position,” Kelly said. “We’re going to have to make some tough decisions at corner and we’re not going to be able to keep them all.”
Despite Boykin’s comments, Kelly said he still likes Boykin.
“I’ve always been a Brandon Boykin fan. I think he did an unbelievable job in the two and a half years I was with him and I wish him nothing but success,” Kelly said.
The feeling does not appear to be mutual.