National Football League

Did Andy Reid sabotage Chip Kelly's draft plans?

Published May. 1, 2015 3:00 p.m. ET

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By Tim Weaver

The more we learn about the efforts of Chip Kelly and the Philadelphia Eagles to trade up and land Marcus Mariota last night, the weirder the story gets.

Now it sounds like Kelly’s predecessor Andy Reid may have been the key guy to nixing the whole thing…

According to a report by Peter King at MMQB, Andy Reid helped convince Tennessee Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt to hang on to the number two pick and take Mariota:

“I was talking to Andy today,’’ Whisenhunt said late Thursday night. “He told me the story about Ditka offering a whole draft for his [Reid’s] pick. I understood what Andy was saying. It certainly helped solidify what I was thinking—that’s for sure...”

You can read the full story here.

Reid was referencing the fact that he had a chance to get six picks for one from Mike Ditka’s Saints, who were desperate to get Ricky Williams. Reid turned him down because he had his eye on a new franchsie quarterback: Donovan McNabb, which made all other concerns irrelevant. Even for a massive haul of picks he didn’t think the trade was worth it.

While Mariota will probably turn out to be a fine quarterback, I have a feeling Whisenhunt may regret not taking Kelly’s offer if he had the chance.

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