Philadelphia Eagles: Calm Before the Storm (Bold Predictions)

Philadelphia Eagles this. Philadelphia Eagles that.

From the moment the NFL league-year began earlier this month until just recently the Eagles dominated the news-cycle.

Eagles

So what about now? McCoy’s gone. Murray’s in. Foles is gone. Bradford’s in. The talk of an imminent trade of star guard Evan Mathis has died down. Tim Tebow got on a plane and flew away. No one ever cared if or whom Chip Kelly might date. Most folks have even resigned themselves to the fact that Chip and the Eagles won’t spend what they’d need to to land Mariota in April.

It’s silent.

Eerily silent.

Almost too silent.

If you ask me? It’s just the calm before the storm.

So what will the storm look like?

Well. Good question. Let’s see: Hurricane Chip has proven to be awfully hard to predict. And I’m no meteorologist.

But who am I kidding? That’s not gonna stop me from swinging wildly:

Prediction #1: The Eagles will not pick at #20 in the 2015 NFL Draft (thunder clap.)

Prediction #2: At least one player that is currently penciled in as a defensive starter for 2015 will be traded before the season begins: Possibly two (flash of lightning.)

Prediction #3: Sam Bradford will never start a game for the Philadelphia Eagles (the skies begin to open.)

Prediction #4: Chip Kelly will have to cancel a hot date to attend a Pro-Day next week (rain check.)

Mar 22, 2015; Tempe, AZ, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly in attendance during the NFL Veteran Combine at the Arizona Cardinals training facility. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

It’s not that I think Chip Kelly has to make moves. I actually believe the man when he says that he’d eventually like the Eagles to be in a place where they can build through the draft and develop talent the way that’s proven to be most effective in the NFL (I just don’t think he thinks they’re there yet.)

It’s not that I think the Eagles are in such a bad place that they need to continue making foundation-shaking moves left and right (In fact I’ll go on record as saying that I don’t think the foundation can stand much more shaking this offseason.)

It’s just this: I don’t get the sense that Chip feels comfortable yet. And I don’t think it matters to Chip if I feel comfortable. Or if the fans feel comfortable. Or if anyone else in the Eagles front office feels comfortable. This is his team now in a way that it simply hasn’t been thus far. Heck? It’s his team in a way that maybe no other NFL team belongs to it’s head coach:

Chip Kelly is the face of the Eagles. Unquestionably. Can that be said of any other team?

Sure, Tom Coughlin’s been with the Giants for ages. But Eli is the face.

Yes, we all know by heart the image of Bill Belichick standing in front of a podium, in a hoodie, saying nothing. But we all also know that that’s Tom Brady’s team.

We all know who the face of the Cowboys is: Even if that face has been pulled tight and sewn shut like a regulation NFL ball.

Rex Ryan is too new in Buffalo.

It may well be that Chip Kelly has set himself apart from the field as being the head coach in the NFL that most completely symbolizes his team.

And he’s too smart not to understant that that’s how things are: It’s his system. His rules. His players. And his reputation on the line.

And even though, for the moment, the trade-winds have died down and the storm that was the Eagles early-offseason has quieted…

… I think Hurricane Chip Kelly’s just scratching the surface of making the Philadelphia Eagles his own.

Next: Who Will the Eagles Draft?

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