Report: Chip Kelly-Howie Roseman relationship weakening

With Christmas on the horizon (the not-so-far-off horizon, at least), Eagles fans seemingly got an early lump of coal in their stockings today. Tim McManus of Birds 24/7 reported this morning that head coach Chip Kelly and general manager Howie Roseman’s relationship isn’t as strong as it was early in Kelly’s tenure.

"There have been persistent rumblings about shifting dynamics behind the scenes: Namely, that Kelly and Roseman’s relationship has cooled and that the collaborative process between coach and general manager is not where it once was (Kelly and Gamble remain tight, per sources)."

As McManus points out in the article, it wasn’t that the writing was necessarily on the wall, but there have been signs that Kelly seems to be gaining more power within the organization. The idea of Kelly having more personnel power over Roseman wasn’t necessarily Jeffrey Lurie’s blueprint when he hired Kelly–something McManus also mentions.

Perhaps the best indication of Kelly and Roseman not being on the same page was last month when a report surfaced that, among others in the organization, Roseman had ‘soured’ on Nick Foles, and Kelly not only vehemently  denied the report, but seemed to flex his muscle in response.

"“I don’t know where that stuff comes from,” he said. “I know this, I know I control the roster. And I think you guys can say first-hand, I don’t talk to anybody. So whoever says they have a source in terms of what’s gonna go on with roster maneuvers or people going up and people going down, they never talked to the right person because that comes from me, and that never was the case.“I’ve got great faith in Nick, and I think he’s a hell of a quarterback, and I think sometimes he gets banged too much, but I wish there was more people like Nick Foles in our lives.”"

If the long-term future of Nick Foles in Philadelphia has become a point of contention between Kelly and Roseman, with Kelly still firmly behind Foles, then I’d tend to side with Roseman. That said, as underwhelming as Foles has been this year, I still hope to have him return at the end of the season to see if he can recapture what made the majority of Philadelphia believe he could be the team’s franchise quarterback.

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It’s also important not to blow this report out of proportion. Things may have ‘cooled’ between the two, but we also aren’t hearing the same type of reports that the 49ers have dealt with this year, where it appears things have reached the point of no return with San Francisco head coach Jim Harbaugh and general manager Jed York. This offseason, Lurie needs to assess whether he feels the two are going to be able to still successfully work together in their current relationship state, or whether things will continue to deteriorate and become a power-struggle.

If Lurie comes to the decision that a change needs to be made, getting rid of Roseman seems like the obvious end game. As highly as I’ve grown to think Roseman, mainly based off of his 2012 draft, he isn’t irreplaceable. In fact, Tom Gamble, who is the current Vice President of Player Personnel, got calls from teams about their general manager vacancies last offseason, and would be more than qualified to be the team’s next general manager. McManus did say in his article that Kelly and Gamble are still ‘tight’.

There’s no need to push anyone out the door, though. If things can be worked out between Kelly and Roseman, then the Eagles are probably better off. It is comforting to know that they have such a good back-up option in Gamble, however.

If the team were to ultimately move on from Roseman, I would want some sort of sign or re-commitment from Kelly. It isn’t that I think there’s any chance he goes to Florida after the season or would have gone to USC or Texas last year, but I also don’t think that he wouldn’t seriously consider taking the right college job. A contract extension, and an end to any idea that he prefers college to the NFL, would be comforting.

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