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Philadelphia Eagles’ Turmoil Could Result In a Move for Marcus Mariota

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With the firing of Tom Gamble, speculation is running rampant about the Philadelphia Eagles and the future of head coach Chip Kelly. Will he stay? Will he go? Did the firing of Kelly’s most trusted adviser seal his fate with the Eagles? Twitter seems to be offering conflicting reports. On one hand, you’re hearing that Kelly is unhappy and wants out of his contract. On the other, you’re hearing that Kelly isn’t going anywhere… but that a big move is forthcoming.

This “big move” could mean a number of things. There might be a surprise hire to replace Gamble, although I don’t know who would come in and have the synergy with Kelly that Gamble had. It could also mean an addition of responsibilities for Kelly, making him the new version of Andy Reid. If Kelly really is the key cog of the organization with final say on roster decisions, and if owner Jeff Lurie’s wunderkind Howie Roseman remains involved in player evaluation, it’s feasible to think that Gamble was seen as an unnecessary source of friction within the organization.

While I tend to believe that Kelly isn’t immediately going anywhere, I also believe that there are some relationships within the Novacare complex that need to be healed. Specifically, I’m talking about the relationships between Lurie and Kelly, as well as between Roseman and Kelly.

And what better way to help smooth things over than Marcus Mariota?

The Eagles’ brass has been ominously non-committal to current starter Nick Foles after the clunker of a season he handed in. Sure, the Eagles still won with Foles, but he wasn’t anything like the sniper he was last year. The Eagles may need Foles for the time being, but we have to remember that, at the end of the day, Foles is not Kelly’s guy. Kelly inherited Foles and made the most of what he offered when he had to. We also have to remember that Michael Vick was given the job over Foles to start Kelly’s tenure.

So far Kelly has never been able to really execute his offense at full steam. And now that tensions within the Eagles’ closed doors are starting to leak out, I can think of no finer way for Lurie to appease Kelly than to go get him his ideal quarterback in Mariota. The idea might seem like selling the organization out to please the coach at first, but the fact remains there’s a need for a quarterback here. Going into the season next year without a competent, equal-caliber Plan B to Foles would be an epic mistake.

Sure, there’s free agents and lower-ranked quarterbacks who might do the trick enough to right the ship, but they won’t be Kelly’s guy. They won’t be Mariota. If Lurie wants to keep Kelly happy in Philadelphia, Mariota might just be the perfect olive branch.

Doug Green is a blogger for www.RantSports.com covering the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL. Follow him on Twitter @DGreenNFL

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