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So, Andy Reid was talking to the Tennessee Titans, owners of the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. But he wasn't talking about the Kansas City Chiefs moving up in a trade.
The MMQB's Peter King reported that Reid was giving Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt his thoughts on having a potentially valuable No. 2 overall pick, as Reid did in 1999 with Donovan McNabb. That draft was the Ricky Williams draft where the Saints gave away their entire draft to move into the top five from No. 12. Reid and the Eagles didn't take the deal.
That was Andy Reid's first draft as the coach of the Eagles. He could have dealt one pick for six. But Reid knew his franchise was listless, without a solid quarterback of the future. Reid knew he liked Donovan McNabb. Reid knew there was no guarantee he'd be picking high enough in the draft to take a quarterback he thought he could win with. So it wouldn't have mattered how many picks Ditka offered him; unless Da Coach guaranteed one of them would provide a quarterback as good as or better than McNabb, it would be a senseless trade.
"I was talking to Andy today,'' Whisenhunt said late Thursday night. "He told me the story about Ditka offering a whole draft for his [Reid's] pick. I understood what Andy was saying. It certainly helped solidify what I was thinking—that's for sure."
The alternate headline to this post: Andy Reid screws over the Eagles one last time!
For real though, I'm glad the Chiefs have a coach who understands the importance of a quarterback. No amount of draft picks can replace the value of a franchise quarterback.