See, it wasn’t just about cutting off Chip Kelly’s acquisitions to spite his face.
Eagles executive Howie Roseman said the binge-and-purge of the team’s roster in recent days was more about getting into the top 10 of this year’s draft — along with, you know, banishing any last vestige of the Kelly regime now that he’s back in charge.
Roseman didn’t say that last part, that was me, but it’s clear they were looking to clear the decks, and that’s where it was helpful having the Dolphins nearby at the Scouting Combine.
Miami took cornerback Byron Maxwell and linebacker Kiko Alonso off their hands, and in exchange the Eagles moved from 13th to eighth in the first round.
“I think we were fortunate at the combine because our suites were two doors down,” Roseman said, via Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News. “We’d kind of talk about positions of need and what we were looking to do. Some positions they were looking for in free agency, that they were concerned whether they’d be able to find, we felt like we had some depth there, and over the course of time, it worked out.
“The great thing about the Combine is, you get a chance to talk to every team in the league, see your friends in the league, see the people that you can talk trades with, you’re all in the same place. We had talked to a bunch of teams about a bunch of different things, and one of our goals was seeing if we could move up in the draft. We found a way to do that by giving [Miami] value. It was something that came together over a period of a couple weeks, a bunch of phone calls, but we’re excited about getting the opportunity to pick eighth.”
Of course, sending running back DeMarco Murray and his contract to Tennessee for 13 spots in the fourth round was as simple as removing a problem, and taking back whatever ham sandwich was offered.
But despite the insistence on moving into the top 10 of the draft, Roseman didn’t name a specific target or area of need, saying they’d take the “best player available” at No. 8.