Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News explores the idea of the Jets and the Eagles working out a trade that would allow Oregon QB Marcus Mariota to be reunited with his former head coach.
Mehta writes that the Jets trading their No. 6 pick to the Eagles for the right to take Mariota is the “ultimate no-brainer.”
The idea of the Eagles moving up for Mariota has come up numerous times in the past few months, and with good reason seeing as HC Chip Kelly is more than familiar with him and he would be a perfect fit in Philadelphia’s offense.
“If he’s in Chip’s system, he’ll be a problem for teams from Day One,” one personnel director said. “Mariota may be the missing piece for them. If he plays in any other system, he’s at least one year away.”
Mehta sees Eagles QB Nick Foles as the “ideal bargaining chip” in a potential trade, and including him in the deal would reduce package of draft picks it would require for the Eagles to make the move up the board to No. 6 overall.
On top of that, Mehta suggests that the Eagles would also give up their 2015 and 2016 first- and second-round selections for the right to take Mariota.
Foles will be entering the final year of his rookie contract, so the Jets would likely use the 2015 season as an evaluation year before considering a possible extension.
For the time being, he would give the Jets a quarterback who should be able to beat out Geno Smith for the starting job next year. Plus, the Jets would be stocked with draft picks in 2016, which is surely something that new GM Mike Maccagnan can appreciate given his draft and develop approach towards building the Jets.
Overall, Mehta views this a win-win for both teams.
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Bull. Eagles are close if they upgrade corners and other areas they can win with Foles. Give up that much for a rookie QB, you ignore your defensive weak spots and the franchise wouldn’t compete for anotherlunar other 3 yrs. Does Kelly have that much time??
Trade of #6 for #20, QB Foles, and 2016 1st and 2nd and 2017 1st and 2nd is crazy. #6 is only worth 1600 points – #20 is worth 850 pts. Foles and next years #1 makes sense, perhaps with an option for an additional pick depending on where the 2016 1st lands is a reasonable deal.
I agree that you could make the case that PHI is still giving up too much in terms of draft compensation in this proposed trade. However, Phil Sheridan of ESPN offers an interesting look at what these picks have amounted to in recent years. Here’s a link: http://espn.go.com/blog/philadelphia-eagles/post/_/id/10552/a-marcus-mariota-deal-from-the-other-side