Screenshot2013-06-19at4

In just a few weeks, the Philadelphia Eagles will start their first training camp with their brand-spankin'-new head coach. The excitement level in Philadelphia is extremely high, because things had become stagnant under Andy Reid and Chip Kelly brings a very fresh feel to the City of Brotherly Love.

But is Kelly too fresh? Nobody really knows what to expect from the offensive mastermind from Oregon, mainly because he's never been on an NFL coaching staff before. 

It's impossible to predict how things might pan out for any new coach, and that's especially the case with Kelly. He becomes just the ninth NFL head coach in the last 30 years without any experience within the league, joining this list: 

We can take the success rate of the coaches above and compare that to coaches with vast and/or limited NFL experience in order to get a better feel for Kelly's chances of making it, at least based on how history has treated coaches in similar situations.

Hi-res-7363476_crop_north
USA TODAY Sports

Certainly, most Philadelphia Eagles fans are approaching the looming training camp quarterback competition with a "may the best man win" philosophy. But that doesn't mean you can't hope that the best man winds up being either Nick Foles or Matt Barkley, rather than Michael Vick

And if you're thinking about the long-term health of the franchise, that should probably be your mentality.

Vick, who turns 33 in a week, has 34 turnovers in 23 starts since the beginning of the 2011 season. He's a dynamic athlete with one hell of high ceiling, but it's a little late in the game now to expect him to become a consistently reliable franchise quarterback. He's stuck between being that and a stopgap, and while he hasn't always been the main problem in Philadelphia, he's probably not the team's long-term solution at this stage of his career.

Statistically, Foles did more than Vick despite having less to work with last season. And when you consider that Foles was a rookie third-round pick and Vick was a 10-year veteran, that should be enough to convince you that the guy deserves another shot. 

Hi-res-95608265_crop_north
Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

Earlier this offseason, there was a great thread on Reddit asking fans what piece of advice they'd give their favorite team's front office five years ago.

On Monday, we expanded on that with the Dallas Cowboys; on Tuesday we hit the New York Giants; and on Thursday we covered the Philadelphia Eagles. We finish our alphabetical march through the NFC East with the Washington Redskins, but we have to change things up a bit here.

We're only going to go back three years with the 'Skins, because advice for Vinny Cerrato and Jim Zorn would seem silly and because we all know exactly what we'd tell Daniel Snyder anyway: Stay away from Albert Haynesworth.

Since we're already cheating in that respect, we'll double down and throw another wrench in by including not one, but two pieces of advice. Why? Mainly because the first piece is still quite obvious and, frankly, a little boring. 

Hi-res-7403450_crop_north
Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

We're all terribly aware that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Matt Barkley cost himself quite a lot of money by opting to stay at USC an extra year. Barkley's draft stock plummeted in 2012, and as a result, the contract he signed with the team this week as a fourth-round pick is worth quite a lot less than what he would have been due as a top-10 selection.

So when ESPN's Adam Schefter threw that fine point into his tweet announcing Barkley's new deal Thursday afternoon, the 22-year-old fired back in lighthearted fashion:

You might recall that Barkley also called out ESPN's Merril Hoge in response to a some criticism back in March. Some might argue that this is an indication Barkley has thin skin, which is an extremely bad trait to possess when you're a quarterback in Philadelphia, but it's also an indication he's entering this league—and this quarterback competition—with a California-sized chip on his shoulder.

That's never a bad thing, but it won't take tweets from national reporters to remind Barkley that his gamble did the opposite of pay off. He'll receive that reminder each and every time he checks his online bank statement and views the direct deposits he's receiving from the Eagles over the next four years. 

Hi-res-6845876_crop_north
USA TODAY Sports

Earlier this offseason, there was a great thread on Reddit asking fans what piece of advice they'd give their favorite team's front office five years in the past.

On Monday, we expanded on that with the Dallas Cowboys, on Tuesday we hit the New York Giants and now we continue our alphabetical march through the NFC East with the Philadelphia Eagles.

If we could go back five years to the 2008 NFL offseason and give only one line of futuristic wisdom to the Eagles, here's what we'd tell Joe Banner, Andy Reid and Howie Roseman.

 

Make Aggressive run at Future Franchise Quarterback

Hi-res-5797404_crop_north
Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

A quiet offseason in Washington became a little more interesting for the Redskins this week, with the team adding two experienced and speedy weapons to the offensive arsenal in an attempt to bolster an already-solid unit before throwing gimpy franchise quarterback Robert Griffin III back into the lion's den.

Experience and speed. That's what both moves are all about. You can never have too much of either, which is why the 'Skins signed two of the oldest and fastest players lingering on a near-stale free-agent market. They didn't have the money to chase big shots earlier this offseason, but Donté Stallworth and Devery Henderson have both been able to get the job done in the past.

In fact, both were able to do so in familiar situations. Not only was Stallworth a Redskin two years ago, but he and Henderson were both drafted in New Orleans by former Saints head coach and current 'Skins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett. 

The Redskins receiving corps wasn't weak. But it also wasn't the best. And when you're striving to build on a breakout campaign, anything helps. Now, this team has five receivers who have over 100 career catches, 2,000 career yards and 10 career touchdowns.

158028103_crop_north

Jerry Jones is now in his 25th year as owner of America's most popular and most valuable sports team. It's easy to reflect on nearly a quarter-century in office for the NFL's most prominent lightning rod, because his time with the Dallas Cowboys can be split into two distinct, crystal-clear chapters. 

The successful chapter and the unsuccessful chapter. 

To tell the story of how Jones helped (the wording there is important: helped) build the 'Boys from rock bottom into a dynasty and then became a victim of his own ego as that dynasty collapsed can really be told by remembering what went down on no more than 10 specific dates. 

 

1. Feb. 25, 1989

Hi-res-79498561_crop_north
Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Earlier this offseason, there was a great thread on Reddit asking fans what piece of advice they'd give their favorite team's front office a half-decade ago.

On Monday, we expanded on that with the Dallas Cowboys and now we continue our alphabetical march through the NFC East with the New York Giants.

If we could go back five years to the 2008 NFL offseason and give only one line of futuristic wisdom to the G-Men, here's what we'd tell Jerry Reese, Tom Coughlin and Co.

 

Rethink the 2nd Round

Hi-res-7366076_crop_north
USA TODAY Sports

Middle linebacker, Sean Lee, is an integral part of the Dallas Cowboys defense. With him last year, the Cowboys gave up 22.2 points and 292.3 yards per game. Without him, they surrendered 26.7 points and 393.3 yards per game. 

The problem is that they were without him more often than they were with him, as the 26-year-old was forced to miss the final 10 games of his third NFL season due to a toe injury. He's yet to make it through an entire campaign without missing at least a game, with a slew of minor injuries limiting his contributions early in his pro career and a knee injury costing him an entire season at Penn State.

That has to be the only reason why the Cowboys might let Lee enter the final season of his four-year rookie contract, and I don't blame Dallas for taking that approach. 

Yes, the 'Boys have been tight against the cap and extending Lee's deal would likely force them to give him at least a mild immediately raise, but they've freed up plenty of cap space with right tackle Doug Free taking a pay cut and defensive end Marcus Spears' release becoming official. 

Hi-res-127233831_crop_north
Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Earlier this offseason, there was a great thread on Reddit asking fans what piece of advice they'd give their favorite team's front office exactly five years ago. Let's expand on that a little bit within the NFC East, starting with the Dallas Cowboys

If we could go back five years to the 2008 NFL offseason and give only one line of futuristic wisdom to the "America's Team," here's what we'd tell Jerry Jones and Co.  

 

Invest in the offensive line

Five years ago, the Cowboys were really underestimating how quickly their line was deteriorating. Left tackle Flozell Adams was 33, and Andre Gurode, Leonard Davis and Marc Colombo were declining. That upcoming year, the line stayed extremely healthy but still gave up more pressure than all but two other offensive lines, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).