Tebow, Barkley decisions show we never know what Kelly is thinking

Jimmy Kempski, renowned stick-figure artist and Eagles analyst, formerly of Philly.com and now of Phillyvoice.com, has a theory about Chip Kelly and nicknames. The cuddlier the nickname, the higher the player's stock.

Kempski felt it was a bad sign when Tim Tebow went from "Timmy" to "Tim," and similarly, when Matt Barkley went from "Barks" to "Matt."

Why is this relevant? Because Kempski might have stumbled upon the most reliable method we have of figuring out what Kelly is thinking.

One thing I thought I knew during the final days of the Barkley-Tebow drama: the Eagles weren't going to get rid of both of them, with their starting quarterback, Sam Bradford, coming off two left ACL tears. They would keep three quarterbacks.

Sooo, as I waste a sunny Labor Day Weekend Saturday afternoon in the NovaCare media room tapping this out, how many quarterbacks do the Eagles have?

Two.

Bradford and Mark Sanchez.

They will have three, sometime soon, Kelly assured a few reporters gathered at a hastily called press conference early Saturday afternoon. The third might end up on the practice squad, or might end up on the active roster, depending on who's out there.

All those weeks we spent scrutinizing Barkley vs. Tebow, we ignored one possibility – that Kelly wasn't impressed with either of them, that he would press "reset" at the end of the preseason.

"We want to look at everybody available," Kelly said Saturday.

Officially, Barkley is gone because the Eagles had a trade offer for him, Kelly said. And that surely is how it went down: Kelly sitting there in his office, penciling in Barkley as the guy behind Bradford and Sanchez, maybe using Pete Mackanin-style calligraphy, when the phone rings and the Arizona Cardinals plead with Chip to be allowed to acquire Barkley for a conditional seventh-round draft pick.

Alternative theory: The Eagles were ready to cut both guys, and somebody actually offered them something for Barkley, so they traded him. Three training camps were enough to tell Kelly that the former USC star wasn't going to develop into a starter.

I made the mistake of assuming – we all know how the consequences of that word – that once Barkley was traded Friday afternoon, Tebow became the third QB.

Should have believed my own eyes, all those hot August training camp days. There was no secret Chip magical plan at work that would somehow make useful a guy who would stand there during 7-on-7 over and over, patting the ball, unable to pick out a receiver. Tebow looked like a real contender only in the final preseason game, as Barkley put together the worst three series of his Eagles career. But that did not make Tebow the answer.

"There was no master plan," Kelly said. "It was just that everybody comes in here and competes, when you get here in April, and we will let it play out the way it plays out."

"He did play real well against the Jets," said Kelly, who agreed that Tebow "really improved his throwing motion," that he had worked hard to do so and "deserves a lot of credit for that."

He said Tebow "needs to get more playing time," presumably in arena football or Canada.

"We didn't feel he was good enough to be the three right now," Kelly said.

So concluded the Eagles' Tebow Era.

Other nuggets of interest, with the roster at 52, presumably pending the quarterback move:

*Corner Denzel Rice, of the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, was the only undrafted rookie to make the roster. Rice beat out 2014 fourth-round pick Jaylen Watkins and 2015 sixth-round pick Randall Evans.

*Kelly said 2014 first-round outside linebacker Marcus Smith, hobbled by a hamstring problem, will start the season on the active roster, he won't be placed on injured reserve/designated to return.

*The Eagles' nickel corner will depend on which team the Eagles are playing. (In other words, they're going to patch something together.)

*Veteran inside linebacker Najee Goode was "the last guy" the Eagles cut, Kelly said. Lots of depth there, not so much outside.