The Philadelphia Eagles and Chip Kelly met for 12 hours today in Phoenix during what was supposed to be a 4-hour meeting, causing Kelly to miss his meeting with the Cleveland Browns. Kelly, who was rumored to be close to a deal with Cleveland Friday night, met with Lurie from noon to midnight.
Either these two parties have mutual desire for each other or the food at the restaurant was delicious. Both seem fair explanations for the marathon.
Brian Startare of 94 WIP (Howard Eskin’s radio station) started the commotion regarding a potential deal between the Eagles and Kelly with this Tweet:
Sources tell me Chip Kelly and the eagles are close to an agreement on a 5 year deal. If I'm right I'm golden. If wrong my source is fired—
Brian Startare (@brianstartare) January 06, 2013
While no official confirmation came from either side, CBSSports reportedly said a “five-year, $65 million deal” had been signed, but this report was later confirmed to have come from a fake account. Another rebuke of the “five-year deal being signed” report is the fact that the Eagles will go through with their meetings tomorrow with Mike McCoy and Doug Marrone. Means nothing is final.
OK, now THIS is interesting. I'm told by league source Eagles still planning to meet tomorrow with McCoy and Marrone. So there's that.—
Reuben Frank (@RoobCSN) January 06, 2013
The Eagles, and Jeffrey Lurie in particular, clearly have Kelly near the top of their list. The Oregon coach recently won the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and is considered to be on the of the better offensive innovators, but his “gimmicks” and “finesse” style have some concerned. Many believe the Eagles should pursue a leader who’ll bring toughness to the team, like a Mike McCoy, Bruce Arians, or Jon Gruden.
Their negotiations are far from done, however, per Mike Garafolo of USA Today:
Meeting is over indeed. I'm told that's not the end of communication btwn Eagles + Kelly.—
Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) January 06, 2013
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