Once upon a time a magical prince became head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. And all the fans in the kingdom wondered how many frogs he would have to kiss before one turned into his magic quarterback.
Now the latest rumor has Chip Kelly interested in bringing Alex Smith to the Eagles.
We've heard that one before. But now Garry Cobb is running with it.
We sometimes discount Garry Cobb's sources. But he claims Chip Kelly is considering Alex Smith as the possible knight in shining underarmour to run his offense in Philly.
Cobb reports that Andy Reid wanted to get Alex Smith for the Eagles last off-season, too. He says Trent Dilfer told him that. When pressed, Dilfer couldn’t get into the details, but he made it clear that Andy Reid wanted to make Smith an Eagle. “I don’t know a whole lot. I just know there was a courtship. It was not even an inside source, you know what I mean? It was just kind of the scuttle in the offseason.”
That's the problem with Cobb sometimes, his hearsay is based on hearsay. But if true, as Cobb points out, this information could in a roundabout way have an effect upon what Chip Kelly and the Eagles do at the quarterback position. If Reid and the Chiefs are very aggressive about acquiring Smith it could move Kelly and the Birds into another direction.
According to Zach Berman of philly.com, 49ers quarterback Alex Smith could be a target for the Philadelphia Eagles. Smith played in a similar system while playing at the University of Utah under Urban Myer, and has the athletic ability to run Chip Kelly’s spread offense. At the 2005 NFL combine, Smith recorded a 4.7 time in the 40-yard dash, and had a 32-inch vertical leap, so he has the skill set to run a read option type offense.
Then there's still the Mike Vick conundrum.
Chip Kelly has to make a decision soon on quarterback Michael Vick, and it will have an impact going either way he chooses. If he lets Vick go, the Eagles will go forward without a proven quarterback on the roster. If he keeps Vick, then it's almost certain Vick would be the starter he builds around. Whatever the case, Vick won’t be watching from an Eagles sideline in 2013.
According to Berman, Vick's taking a pay cut is highly unlikely; it’s bad business for him to do so when there are potential teams ready to open their wallets. The Eagles can pick up the contract and look for a trade, but that could backfire if teams find better options other than Vick. That would force the Eagles to either trade for less value or keep a very expensive backup.
You have to be careful when you pick up sources on the Eagles QB situation. For example, Yardbarker is running a story today with an alleged quote by Vick: "If I'm not the starter, I want out of Philadelphia…" Then the rest of the article written by a guy named only "LG" for USA Sports 360 turns out to be a hate piece on Vick.
But I can't find a single reliable source to corroborate that quote, or that Vick ever really said it. Any fact-checkers out there, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe Vick has ever been on record as saying he wants "out of Philly".
ESPN's John Clayton was on the Mike and Mike Show this morning and was pretty credible in his argument that Vick will be released by the Eagles this coming Friday.
"At $16 million a season, Michael Vick currently makes upper echelon quarterback money. But with his sub-par on the field production, Vick may not warrant that high a salary anymore. Many were expecting the Eagles to ask Vick to take a pay cut this off-season. Now it appears they may just release him completely."
But that doesn't mean Vick will be unavailable to be renegotiated and re-signed by the Eagles. It just means he'll be available to everyone else, too.
As Clayton points out, at the high price of his current deal, "a move on Vick was almost a foregone conclusion. We’ll have to see if Vick decides to re-sign with the Eagles when he is released."
In a league where quarterbacks are always at a premium, he will most certainly have options.
Meanwhile…send in the frogs!
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