We have to care because the Giants face them twice a year. This in from Jason LaCanfora
"PHI and BUF will be very active. PHI to target Byron Maxwell, Jason Worilds, Devin McCourty among others..."
They have nearly 50 million in CAP space, which is plenty of room to keep Jeremy Maclin should he decide to return. Money will not be an issue for Eagle's this offseason.
What I think Chip Kelly is doing/will do, is focusing the FA period on the defense. Lost on many is the fact that Philly's defense was not good last year and may have been even worse than the numbers given the amount of special team and defensive touchdowns they had in the first half of the season. When you add in the ability of the Eagles' offense you can see how the Philly defense was even worse than advertised.
It is clear that Kelly firmly believes in his offensive system and as much as I don't quite agree, it's hard to deny that he has been able to win with the likes of Nick Foles and Mark Sanchez, not exactly top line QBs. Kelly has an offensive vision and paradoxically, as open as his concepts are, his mind is in many ways closed. He believes he can make just about any player fit into his system, but that guy has to 100% buy in. This is what McCoy is gone. As good as he is, he wasn't a believer. Kelly wants a believers.
I think Kelly cleared all this cap room to upgrade the defense in FA. The Eagles will add an edge rusher, a safety, and probably a DT/3-4 DE. This may cause some pain for the Giants as the two teams will be competing for many of the same FAs.
Kelly's comfortable with his skill players. He believes he just needs a north south runner in his system, and those are easy and cheap to find. (If Blount hits the open market, he'll be an Eagle.) Kelly is setting the stage to go get Mariotta. As crazy as it sounds, I think this is what he is doing. Mariotta is HIS guy, he is a model citizen, and is a BELIEVER in Chip Kelly's system. I'll never fault a team for going and getting the player they want, but for Philly better hope Kelly is right about his system because if Mariotta is only average to above average in the NFL, then they should just go with Foles.
The thing is though that Kelly has actually had winning seasons. Spurrier was an catastrophic failure.
Rank Team
23 Arizona
24 Atlanta
25 St Louis
26 Minnesota
27 Oakland
28 Cleveland
29 Tennessee
30 Tampa Bay
31 Jacksonville
32 Philadelphia
I know it's worked at the college level but teams are much more evenly stacked in the NFL, especially come playoff time. I could be wrong but unless the Eagles manage to score 50 every week I don't see them as a serious Super Bowl threat.
Obviously, i am rooting for a huge failure that will leave the franchise in ruins as he scurries back to college. I also believe that will be the case. but it is possible that he builds a real contender. yuck.
anyway, the offense can score points. I felt it lost a little luster last year, and hopefully the league will figure it out more this year. but it is true that he has 2 10 win seasons with 'meh' QB's.
The Defense is pretty bad, and it was masked by a lot of things last year
I am thinking two #1 picks, a #2, and Foles at a minimum.
They will need the FA money to fill the holes they have created. They need:
1 or two Safeties, at least one Corner, Pass Rushers, and a at least one DT.
They also need a #1 running back, a #1 receiver, and another o-lineman.
The 50 million will go fast.
A big gamble for them to transition this year, but Kelly is a smart guy and I would not count him out.
this disaster. Fingers crossed they move up for Mariota.
Even though Kelly is leading one of the Giants' arch rivals, I'm kind of with Curtis: it's interesting for the League, for his conviction in his system that has departed from most others in a copycat league (and others are copying him, and he shakes up the NFC East, forcing other GM/Coach tandems to react. After the first Eagles-Cowboys game in 2014, who wouldda thunk the end of season would play out as it did (of course, Foles....)
And that leads to sj4good's point: you say, "Football is a 3 phase game and due to the nature of the offense that Philly runs I don't ever see their defense being above average. You can't ask your D to make key stops late in the game when they've been on the field all game. Look at the bottom 10 teams in time of possession last year:...", but two things: i) you are reinforcing Emil's point in the OP, Kelly knows he has to address his d and is attacking it with lots of cap room--if he gets those guys, maybe Philly's D becomes above average. And, ii) I'm not sure I agree with your linking per se the type of offense run, i.e., Kelly's with quick strike, short TOP, with the listing of those teams: most of those on that list are the weakest teams in the NFL, by record and by acclamation, O and D. That Philly is last, and Kelly is attacking D in FA, shows he's not a stand pat Coach. I like his "quick strike" approach to re-building his team from the dregs, and now that 2014 ended as it did, he's attacking again.
There's a lot about his approach--i.e., not standing pat (with failed draft picks, with mediocre FA pickups, with underperforming vets, with schemes) that I'm sure many of us wish the Giants had been more aggressive about.
Maxwell had the luxury of playing with 3 All Pro players in the secondary - big difference.
They had one of the best backs in football, a very good offensive line and one of the most explosive (albeit inconsistent) wide receivers. That was the foundation. A foundation which has slowly eroded.
I fear less now than I have for the Eagles in awhile. They do have a lot of money to spend and maybe they spend it all. They will have to pay a ransom to get Mariotta who is a marginal franchise prospect. The key with Kelly's defense since they spend so much time on the field should be depth. Without the draft, that will prove hard to develop.
I really think we are sitting in a great spot in our own division. Probably one of the most advantageous in awhile IF we get our team in order. We need to have a good offseason to get there.
Even though Kelly is leading one of the Giants' arch rivals, I'm kind of with Curtis: it's interesting for the League, for his conviction in his system that has departed from most others in a copycat league (and others are copying him, and he shakes up the NFC East, forcing other GM/Coach tandems to react. After the first Eagles-Cowboys game in 2014, who wouldda thunk the end of season would play out as it did (of course, Foles....)
And that leads to sj4good's point: you say, "Football is a 3 phase game and due to the nature of the offense that Philly runs I don't ever see their defense being above average. You can't ask your D to make key stops late in the game when they've been on the field all game. Look at the bottom 10 teams in time of possession last year:...", but two things: i) you are reinforcing Emil's point in the OP, Kelly knows he has to address his d and is attacking it with lots of cap room--if he gets those guys, maybe Philly's D becomes above average. And, ii) I'm not sure I agree with your linking per se the type of offense run, i.e., Kelly's with quick strike, short TOP, with the listing of those teams: most of those on that list are the weakest teams in the NFL, by record and by acclamation, O and D. That Philly is last, and Kelly is attacking D in FA, shows he's not a stand pat Coach. I like his "quick strike" approach to re-building his team from the dregs, and now that 2014 ended as it did, he's attacking again.
There's a lot about his approach--i.e., not standing pat (with failed draft picks, with mediocre FA pickups, with underperforming vets, with schemes) that I'm sure many of us wish the Giants had been more aggressive about.
I don't want to judge Kelly too harshly. I get what he is doing and why he is doing it, and I respect his conviction. I just happen to disagree how he is doing it.
The "info" that Shady didn't buy in was mentioned by NFL network personalities. I don't want to inaccurately attribute the statements but things said have included that he disagreed with Kelly's hard Saturday practices, and did not like getting pulled in short yardage and 3rd and long situations, and just generally had a higher opinion of his abilities than he thought Chip Kelly did. It's clear to me Kelly wants good soldiers. They don't have to be saints, but if they're going to be SOBs they're going to be his SOBs. In many ways I admire that, but I do think that talent ultimately matters in the NFL and I don't care if your Bill Walsh, this isn't a game of interchangeable parts.
You have to hand it to Kelly. He breathed new life into that franchise and brought his innovative system to the league. He's good for the league from a coaching standpoint. Not sure I buy into him as a player-personnel guy yet, but if anyone could do it, I think he could.
Gimmick offense come and go in this league. They may make a splash for a year, maybe 2, but eventually the league catches up and it craps out. And Kelly being given free rein personnel wise is just plain stupid.