Roseman "Chips" Away Kelly's Players on Eagles Roster

It sure didn't take Howie Roseman to chip away at a few of the newer pieces on the roster of the Philadelphia Eagles did it?

When the Eagles fired Chip Kelly before Week 17 of last season, Roseman was put back in charge of the team by owner Jeffrey Lurie. Oh, they won't dare call him the General Manager, but Howie sure does seem to making a lot of GM-like moves with the Eagles roster, doesn't he?

Media outlets are now confirming that the Eagles have traded three players that Kelly acquired last season, through free agency and trades. Byron Maxwell and Kiko Alonso have been traded to the Miami Dolphins and DeMarco Murray has been traded to the Tennessee Titans. And as quickly as that, Roseman has swept away most of the damage that Kelly did to the Eagles roster in his one horrible season in charge of player personnel.

There is no confirmation of exactly what the Eagles got in return for any of those three players, except that it will be draft picks. We can speculate where those picks might be in the draft, but the actual picks are almost secondary to the deals. The reason all three of those players were traded is that they were brought in by Kelly, after he won a power struggle with Roseman before last season. It would almost seem petty, but then you have to consider the fact that all three of those players underachieved last season.

Media outlets are now confirming that the Eagles have traded three players that Kelly acquired last season, through free agency and trades. Byron Maxwell and Kiko Alonso have been traded to the Miami Dolphins and DeMarco Murray has been traded to the Tennessee Titans. And as quickly as that, Roseman has swept away most of the damage that Kelly did to the Eagles roster in his one horrible season in charge of player personnel.

There is no confirmation of exactly what the Eagles got in return for any of those three players, except that it will be draft picks. We can speculate where those picks might be in the draft, but the actual picks are almost secondary to the deals. The reason all three of those players were traded is that they were brought in by Kelly, after he won a power struggle with Roseman before last season. It would almost seem petty, but then you have to consider the fact that all three of those players underachieved last season.

I assume Miami insisted on Alonso being included in any deal where they are taking on that onerous contract of Maxwell. Alonso is still young enough to have a good career if he can rebound from his injuries and recapture his fine rookie year form. And maybe Maxwell will do better in another defensive scheme, for another defensive coordinator who isn't as terrible as Billy Davis. I'm actually shocked the Eagles didn't keep him.

Without Maxwell, the Eagles now have no choice but to resign free agent CB Nolan Carroll, who played well before getting hurt last year. Carroll can start opposite Eric Rowe, but the team will still need to spend a draft pick on a young CB. And who knows, maybe they'll bring back Brandon Boykin. Things didn't exactly work out for him in Pittsburgh last year.

I heard stories about Alonso being a starting outside LB in the Eagles new 4-3 defense, but I never understood that thinking. Personally, I said Alonso should be the backup at OLB, with Brandon Graham and Connor Barwin as the starters. Maybe now that ridiculous idea of having Barwin put on weight to play DE will stop. Barwin is good because he can rush the passer and cover TEs and RBs as an OLB. Why take away what he does best? Now they won't have to make that mistake, because the next option at OLB is Marcus Smith. Yes, really.

And let's just stop for a second and think about the fact that while the Eagles are getting all these draft picks for players they wanted to get rid of, the guy who will make those picks is the same guy who picked Marcus Smith.

I went on record as saying that signing Murray made no sense when they did it. The mountain of evidence regarding RBs who carry the ball as often as he did with Dallas in 2014 and then completely falling off the cliff the next season was too obvious to ignore. Well, I guess it wasn't so obvious to Kelly, who gave Murray that ridiculous five-year, $40 million deal ($21 million guaranteed) before last season. Sure, some of Murray's problems last year can be blamed on Kelly's gimmicky college offense that defenses had completely figured out. Or maybe it was the fact that Kelly didn't have even a decent guard on the roster and the O-line fell apart. Or maybe it was just that Murray is a shot runner. It happens to RBs quickly in the NFL. I just can't believe the Eagles found anybody willing to trade anything for Murray.

I'm sure the draft pick they receive will be no better than a 4th or 5th rounder. But that's fine. This was another salary cap dump for a team that only had $17 million in cap space to spend on free agents and all of their draft picks. There are 20 other teams in the NFL with more cap space to spend, so the Eagles needed to do something. The Eagles will save $4 million in cap room and $4 million will stay on the books as dead money for Murray in 2016. Again, just like with Maxwell, it's worth it to get rid of the dead weight.

The Eagles still have Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles at RB, but Mathews is always injured and Sproles is getting pretty darn old for an NFL RB. He will turn 33 next season and is best suited as a change of pace back. Kenjon Barner is just a younger, less-talented version of Sproles. He was only on the roster because he went to Oregon. Expect one of those draft picks they will get in these trades to be used on a RB.

Apparently, Murray was so eager to get out of Philly that he agreed to restructure his contract with the Titans. I guess we can assume his problems weren't just with Kelly if he was willing to give up some of that guaranteed money. That doesn't bode well for the future of the organization. And that brings us to another sobering reality.

The Eagles are now in full rebuilding mode.

The team can put whatever spin they want on this, but the Eagles went full Sam Hinkie on this one. While they won't be "tanking" and entire season......or three, there is no disputing the fact that they are planning more for the future than the 2016 season with these trades. They traded their starting CB, starting RB and another possible starter at LB for draft picks. Teams that are looking to contend for a title simply don't do things like this. They just don't.

Kind of makes you wonder why the heck they bothered to sign Sam Bradford, doesn't it?