From the Desk of Eagles Outsider Barry Bowe

Musical Chairs

The Eagles signed quarterback Thad Lewis on Monday, placed him on the active roster, and demoted quarterback Stephen Morris to the practice squad. This is the latest move in Chip Kelly’s game of musical chairs at quarterback and just one more of Chip Kelly’s blunders since arm-wrestling the GM position away from Howie Roseman.

Some of you may think that this is a minor point – or that I’m nitpicking – but this minor move helps epitomize one of Chip Kelly’s major flaws. To begin with, Chip had a young quarterback in Nick Foles who’d shown potential and was relatively cheap, yet he traded Foles away for a $13-million disaster materializing right in front of the eyes of every Eagles fan out there.

I didn’t understand that trade when it happened. It made no sense. And – after the first two weeks of this season – I still don’t understand that trade now.

I called Marc Farzetta on WIP around 1 o’clock this morning and laid out a list of Chip’s major flaws:

1. Can’t evaluate NFL talent – yet he’s the GM.
2. Doesn’t understand the NFL game.
3. Responsible for poor game-planning and play-calling.
4. Other teams are figuring out his system and game-planning accordingly.
5. Refuses to adapt. For example, Chip brought in north-south runners DeMarco Murray and Ryan Matthews, but he runs almost exclusively out of the shotgun. His north-south runners are getting their handoffs four and five years deep, flat-footed, and getting tackled for minus yardage because the defenders are almost beating the running backs to the handoffs. In addition, it makes the offense more predictable.

Getting back to Thad Lewis

I’m reposting a tweet from ESPN’s Chris Mortensen about the Thad Lewis signing.

Read that again, and let it soak in.

In essence, Mort is saying that the Eagles signed Thad Lewis based on the recommendation of Pat Shurmur when Shurmur coached Lewis with the Cleveland Browns.

Hmmm . . . on the recommendation of Pat Shurmur.

Question – What is one of the main reasons why Chip coveted Sam Bradford?

Answer – Pat Shurmur thought highly of Bradford when Shurmur coached Bradford with the St. Louis Rams.

Next question – How exactly does Sam Bradford’s play with the Eagles look to you?

Next Answer – Yeah . . . me, too . . . abysmal.

So Chip – who’s a poor evaluator of NFL talent – is leaning on Pat Shurmur – who’s apparently a poor evaluator of NFL quarterbacks – to help him make personnel decisions.

Three Better Options

Hey, Chip, you already had three better options under contract than either Thad Lewis or the demoted Stephen Morris:

1. Matt Barkley was in his third season with the Eagles. He knew your system inside and out.
2. Tim Tebow was an NFL veteran with playoff experience. Although he was in his first year with the Eagles, he knew the system better than Lewis and Morris put together.
3. G.J. Kinne was a backup quarterback for the Eagles for the 2013 and 2014 seasons, and he was in Eagles camp as a wide receiver during this preseason. He knows the system inside-out.

None of those three quarterbacks – Barkley, Tebow, and Kinne – were scheduled to make much money this season. For all I know, not much more than Morris and/or Lewis are scheduled to make. So the decision couldn’t have involved money.

All three of those quarterbacks – Barkley, Tebow, and Kinne – are better options than either Thad Lewis or Stephen Morris. But the better options are gone:

• Barkley is a backup with the Arizona Cardinals.
• Tebow is back in the SEC telecast booth.
• Kinne is a backup with the Giants.

Bottom Line

To reiterate one of Chip Kelly’s major flaws: He can’t evaluate NFL talent – yet he’s the GM.

Like Edward John Smith – captain of the Titanic – Chip Kelly is sinking the Eagles. Personally, I wouldn’t mind if he turned into one of those proverbial rats that deserts a sinking ship.

As a die-hard Eagles fan, I hope I’m wrong but I believe he’s set the Eagles back three or four years.

In addition to being an official Eagles Outsider, Barry Bowe is also the author of:

• Born to Be Wild
• 1964 – The Year the Phillies Blew the Pennant
• 12 Best Eagles QBs
• Soon-to-be-published sexy, police procedural Caribbean Queen
• Soon-to-be-published novel Stosh Wadzinski
• Soon-to-be-published novel Polish Widow
• Soon-to-be-published Birth of the Birds