As an old baseball writer, I initially appreciated Chip Kelly for bringing the blockbuster trade to the NFL.
The former Oregon coach was as bold and innovative in his new role as the Philadelphia Eagles’ general manager as he was coaching the Eagles.
But as I started to review his aggressive shake-up at the Eagles’ most pivotal skill positions, it seemed so familiar.
Kelly isn’t an ingenious, pioneering executive. He is Josh McDaniels all over again.
When the Broncos gave McDaniels control of an NFL franchise for the first time in 2009, he acted like a kid in a video-game store. McDaniels became hooked on action.
When Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie demoted Howie Roseman in January and gave the team’s coach final-say authority on all football matters, Kelly treated the king, queen, rook and bishop pieces on his roster like mere pawns in a chess game.
McDaniels came to Denver with a reputation as a brilliant offensive mind. Emboldened with first-time power, he shockingly traded Jay Cutler, his young, star quarterback, in exchange for a less exciting quarterback, veteran Kyle Orton.
Kelly entered the NFL as a brilliant offensive mind. Exhilarated by control, he surprisingly traded Nick Foles, his young, star quarterback, in exchange for an injury-prone quarterback, veteran Sam Bradford.
McDaniels buried Peyton Hillis before eventually trading the popular running back. Then he stockpiled running backs — signing Correll Buckhalter, Lamont Jordan and J.J. Arrington, and drafting Knowshon Moreno in the first round — as if he was going to use a new ball carrier each series.
Kelly started this month’s unprecedented NFL trading spree by dealing away star running back LeSean McCoy, then signing free agents Ryan Mathews and DeMarco Murray after Frank Gore backed out of his agreement. Mathews, a two-time 1,000-yard rusher, already is a wasted signing.
What McDaniels eventually learned, and Kelly may discover, is that heavy turnover of core players propagates a divisive locker room. The Broncos became cliques of Mike Shanahan guys and McDaniels guys.
When the Broncos fell on tough times in the second half of the 2009 season and in most of 2010, they didn’t pull together. They sunk fast.
Maybe it will be different for Kelly. To extend an olive branch, we honor Albert Einstein’s birthday Saturday by providing a deep-thought theory from a true genius: “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”
Oh, wait. What Kelly did wasn’t new. Perhaps there’s another Einstein quote that’s more appropriate. “Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Mike Klis: mklis @denverpost.com or
