NFL news: Around the league in 32 plays

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Happy Red Friday, and Happy New Year, Addicts!

It was an interesting week for NFL news and rumors. There was a lot going on, but one thing that stands out is the number of star players who had their seasons ended with a trip to Injured Reserve. With most teams now knowing they are out of the playoffs, this move serves two purposes. First, it allows the player to get the needed procedures done and to start their rehab. Now that they know there is no reason to try and tough it out, they can actually take care of their bodies. The second is that this allows the team to explore options for their 2016 roster. With the open roster spot, teams can invite in guys they had in camp or were keeping their sights on to see if those players have progressed at all. It’s a valuable tool for a General Manager.

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On top of that, we’ve also got stories that range all over. LA relocation updates. Coaching rumors. Peyton Manning is a dirty, drug using cheater…allegedly (or not). Oh, and the news that shattered all other news this week.

Sometimes I just love my job here at Arrowhead Addict. We’re kicking off 2016 with maybe the best Lead Story yet! How good is this? It’s good enough that I actually felt compelled to put a Peyton Manning HGH investigation on the back burner. Of course I am talking about Chip Kelly being let go by the Eagles. I mean, this one had everything from misdirection, to speculation, to critical reaction, to walking back of that critical reaction. It’s times like these that I’m glad I chose to start writing about the NFL. Of course, that’s also because there is a little bit of an “I was right and they were wrong” aspect to this. I’ve never hidden the fact that I didn’t think Chip Kelly was nearly the coach that many in the media thought. And I’ve never hesitated to point out his mishandling of so many quality players during his tenure in Philly. Plus, I like Andy Reid, so seeing his former team get crapped on makes me think that he’s getting some vindication, even though he’s saying all the right things about it. So, here’s what happened…

Lead Story: Chip Kelly is out as Philly head coach

Chip Kelly is either going to be regarded as a genius or a laughing stock after this season. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

There is no doubt that this season was an abject failure for the Eagles. After back to back 10-6 results, and handing over personnel control to Kelly, the Philly brass was thinking Super Bowl. Instead they got absolutely nothing except embarrassed. And not just on the field either. The headlines for the Eagles have been pretty bad all year. LeSean McCoy, Sam Bradford, Evan Mathis, Demarco Murray…none of these were inspiring much good will for the media-anointed genius, Chip Kelly.

And while the Eagles ownership may say that this was a long-time coming, and there was no one incident that led to the decision, I think I can peg it to one very specific event. Earlier this week in a press conference, Chip Kelly essentially shirked all responsibility for the convoluted, short-sighted, and flat out terrible personnel decision making that came around this year. Kelly essentially claimed that he was not the man in control of personnel decisions in Philadelphia. Of course, this flies directly in the face of all the reports that came out prior to the season that said he was, in fact, the man in charge of personnel. It’s not hard to see how that might irritate an owner who had gone out of his way to give Kelly everything he wanted.

Owner Jeffrey Lurie’s comments on the situation did seem to shut down a lot of the main stream media detractors of the decision. It’s no secret that a lot of football writers, analysts, and talking heads like Chip Kelly a lot and saw him as the next Bill Belichick. However, Lurie’s statement to the media made certain to point out that there were a lot of reasons to fire Chip Kelly. Poor relationships with the staff and players. Poor personnel decisions. And, let’s face it, poor results in a division that will be won by a (at best) 9-7 Washington team that was supposed to be the cellar dweller this year. If this were any coach besides Chip Kelly, a lot of these media members would have been calling for their head.

With Chip Kelly being out in Philly, the hot seat rumors for coaches has really caught on fire. I talked about that previously as a lead story a few weeks back. While I still don’t think Kelly is going to be a quality NFL coach, it doesn’t mean that I don’t think someone will give him a shot. In fact, I fully expect it. And the first team that comes to mind is the Tennessee Titans. Why? Well, the obvious reason. The Titans are fully invested in Marcus Mariota at this point. They’ve got to be happy that they turned down all the trade offers they received for him (including those that supposedly came from Chip Kelly). With that investment, hiring his former college coach makes a lot of sense. There is no denying that Mariota was virtually unstoppable in Kelly’s offense in college. So pairing the two again, in that sense, is really a no-brainer. That doesn’t mean I think it will work out (I don’t). But the logic in making the move is there.

Meanwhile, for the Eagles, the clear winner in all of this is Howie Roseman. Roseman was the General Manager for the Eagles until Chip Kelly won his power play and forced Roseman into a more limited role in dealing solely with player payroll and negotiations. Now Roseman is back in control and will be heading up the search for the next head coach, which means he’ll be able to pick a guy that won’t be gunning for his job. But on top of that, it seems like a majority of the players are a bit relieved that this whole thing is over with. Notably, 2013 first round pick Lane Johnson put it out there that the power struggle between Kelly and Roseman had really weighed heavily on the team. Of course, despite their current silence on the issue, you would have to figure that Desean Jackson, LeSean McCoy, and Evan Mathis are all getting just a little bit of satisfaction from all of this.

All in all, it seems like no matter how you slice it, this was just something that needed to happen.

Next: Steve Smith returning for 2016? Ice up son!

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