Chip Kelly The GM’s Five Best Moves

Dec 29, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Brandon Boykin (22) celebrates with his teammates on the field after making an interception in the fourth quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. The Eagle beat the Cowboys 24-22. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

5. Trading Brandon Boykin For Good Value

In 2015, the Eagles probably would have been a better team with Brandon Boykin serving as the team’s nickel cornerback. Boykin is a niche player, and that’s not a bad thing.

Understandably, however, the team thought they had better options to start at cornerback in 2015, and Boykin had grown disgruntled with not getting a chance to be a starting outside cornerback.

So given that Boykin was due to become a free-agent after the season and the team had drafted JaCorey Shepherd as a potential replacement, Kelly dealt Boykin to the Pittsburgh Steelers on the eve of the first day of training camp for a 2016 conditional fifth-round pick.

The pick could have become a fourth-round pick if Boykin played 60 percent of the Steelers’ snaps in 2015, but given that he’s seen an even smaller role in Pittsburgh than he did here, that’s not going to happen.

So the Eagles are going to walk away with a fifth-round pick for Boykin, rather than keeping him and probably making a half-assed attempted to keep someone who they knew wasn’t going to re-sign. A lot has been made of the Eagles not having a second-round pick this season because of the Sam Bradford trade, but they will have two third rounders, fifth rounders and seventh rounders, a sign that Kelly still understands the value in having what we like to refer to as “assets”.

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