By Harry Allison
So, Sam Bradford jerseys aren’t being sold in Eagles Pro Shops.
We got that.
But does that mean the Birds are planning to trade him for the draft rights for Marcus Mariota?
Really?
Is that what passes for investigative journalism in April 2015?
NJ.com surveyed the three Eagles Pro Shops in the area. They had DeMarco Murray and Byron Maxwell jerseys, two of the three biggest acquisitions this offseason. But none of them had a jersey of Bradford, the quarterback the Eagles acquired from the St. Louis Rams in a trade. Bradford was acquired before Murray or Maxwell.
The Eagles stores, owned and operated by the team and located in Cherry Hill, Philly and Lancaster, had zero No. 7 Bradford jerseys in stock and employees told NJ.com they didn’t have information on any Bradford shipments coming in.
Maybe that means nothing, but it is a little bit interesting.
Chip Kelly, since taking over the personnel reigns this offseason, has quickly grown a reputation as either an active mastermind or a compulsive shopper, depending on your thoughts on him. There have been rumors seemingly since Kelly left Oregon that he’d want to position himself to draft Mariota, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from the Ducks. No matter that Kelly said he wouldn’t and painted himself into a corner by saying that paying a tremendous price to get Mariota would be bad for the franchise. Or that Kelly expressed how much he likes Bradford. People won’t let go the idea that Mariota is coming to Philly and Bradford is just a trade chip in that process.
The Eagles not selling any Bradford jerseys doesn’t exactly stop that line of thinking. Even online, as the NJ.com report points out, only one version of the Bradford jersey is available on the Eagles’ site. It’s a men’s jersey. Murray’s jersey is available in men’s, women’s and youth sizes.
