November 30, 2015
Last offseason, speculation surrounded a potential Eagles trade with the Tennessee Titans to move up in the draft to select Marcus Mariota. This offseason may bring a new round of Titans-Eagles trade speculation, this time in the form of Chip Kelly.
Speaking with Mike Missanelli this afternoon on 97.5 the Fanatic, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com discussed Chip Kelly's future, and he said that a first round pick in return for Kelly could be a possibility. Missanelli asked if Kelly was essentially locked in as the Eagles coach after USC hired their new head coach to a five-year deal earlier today.
"Unless something happens in Tennessee at the end of the year," replied Rapoport. "That would be the only other caveat. It's not likely. NFL trades are almost impossible, but I was told on Sunday, 'Don't completely rule it out.'"
Missanelli then hypothesized that the Titans would have to give up at least their first round pick.
"Yeah, at least," said Rapoport. "These coaching moves are expensive. In the past it has always been a number one pick. I don't even know if that would be the case. If (Chip) wants full control in Tennessee, I don't know if that would happen. If he did not want full control I think that's something they would consider, but that would be the only other play at this point."
Trades for coaches actually aren't terribly uncommon in the NFL. Here are a list of four recent ones, via NinerNoise.com:
The New York Jets allowed head coach Herm Edwards out of his contract in 2006 so he could sign with the Kansas City Chiefs. In exchange, the Chiefs gave up a fourth-round draft selection. At the conclusion of the 2001 season, the Raiders allowed Jon Gruden to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Oakland received first- and second-round picks in the 2002 draft, a first-round pick in the 2003 draft and a second-round pick in the 2004 draft. The Buccaneers also gave the Raiders cash. One day after Bill Belichick was hired by the Jets as head coach in 2000, he quit his job. A few weeks later, he was hired by the New England Patriots as their head coach. After the announcement, the Jets demanded compensation from the Patriots because Belichick was still under contract with the team. The Patriots gave the Jets a first-round selection in the 2000 draft, a fourth-round selection in the 2001 draft and a seventh-round selection in the 2002 draft. The Patriots not only hired Belichick, but also received a fifth-round selection in the 2001 draft and a seventh-round selection in the 2002 draft from the Jets. In 1997, the Jets tried to hire Bill Parcells as head coach. However, he was still under contract with the Patriots who would not release him out of his final year with the team. To get around that, the Jets tried to name Belichick, an assistant to Parcells with the Jets, as head coach and Parcells as a consultant in exchange for two first-round picks in the 1997 draft. Commissioner Paul Tagliabue rejected that deal. But a week later he did accept a deal that involved Parcells to be named head coach of the Jets. The Patriots received third- and fourth-round picks in the 1997 draft, a second-round pick in the 1998 draft and a first-round pick in the 1999 draft. The Jets also donated $300,000 to a Patriots charity.
Additionally, a season ago, the Browns reportedly tried to trade for Jim Harbaugh.
If the season ended today, the Titans would have the number one overall pick in the draft. If the first overall pick (or anything close to that for that matter) for Chip Kelly sounds too good to be true, it's for good reason -- There isn't a snowball's chance in hell the Tennessee Titans are giving up the number one overall pick for Chip Kelly.
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