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Too early to judge Chip Kelly as Eagles' GM

Give him credit for better backfields on both sides of the ball, and give him another couple of years.

Eagles head coach Chip Kelly.
Eagles head coach Chip Kelly.Read more(Matt Rourke/AP)

BACK IN THE 1980s, when Tandy Corporation sold its TRS-80s out of cozy Radio Shack storefronts, the company routinely reviewed the properties for profitability. Stores that chronically lost money were designated "W" stores. Usually, a new general manager would be assigned to those stores.

The new GM had three years to turn a profit, which was a reasonable amount of time. Employees often needed to be fired, or at least retrained. The new GM always had to enforce corporate policies that had become lax. Sometimes, there were double books; sometimes, unwarranted employee benefits ("borrowing" a stereo for a month or so); sometimes, outright theft.

If the GM succeeded, he pocketed 50 percent of the profit for the first profitable year.

If the GM failed after 3 years, the store closed.

Sam Hinkie is in his third season with the Sixers, which he chose to deconstruct and reconstruct. There are some pieces in place, with more coming, but the general attitude around his rebuild is wait-and-see.

Chip Kelly is in his third month of his first season as the Eagles' GM. The general attitude is, he's an arrogant idiot.

Now, that might prove to be true.

Contributors to these pages (and webpages) were compelled Monday to grade Chip Kelly, innovative coaching genius, as Chip Kelly, first-year GM. The grades were, predictably, poor. The team is 4-5, in a putrid division, coming off a loss to the Dolphins.

The grading was, realistically, meaningless.

"Ridiculous," said one NFL insider.

Certainly, that. Harmless, too.

Face it: Kelly's capacity at double duty is a fun thing to discuss. It is topical, considering the struggles the unfortified offensive line had with the Dolphins' front seven and the resurfacing of Mark Sanchez as the starter for the next two games.

Ripping Kelly the GM satiates the masses.

It also is preposterous.

Kelly overthrew Howie Roseman in January, so he has now run one draft and one free-agency season.

Controversially, Kelly curtly dismissed guards Evan Mathis and Todd Herremans, declined to re-sign franchise receiver Jeremy Maclin, traded franchise running back LeSean McCoy and swapped quarterback Nick Foles and a second-round pick for Sam Bradford.

Popularly, Kelly dismissed four of the top five defensive backs, added linebacker Kiko Alonso and signed Byron Maxwell, the Joey Bishop of the Legion of Doom defensive backfield in Seattle, as it were.

Hopefully, Kelly drafted Nelson Agholor to replace Maclin and Eric Rowe to complement Maxwell. He added Jordan Hicks for depth at linebacker and special teams.

You know which of those moves can be called definitively awful?

None.

You know which can be called brilliant?

See above.

"After three months? It's unfair," linebacker DeMeco Ryans said with a laugh. Now in his 10th season, Ryans has been influenced by the visions of five general managers. "It's kind of funny. And unrealistic, really. You've got to give a guy a chance to build a team in his image."

Kelly might have done a lot of building, and a lot of tearing down, but the fruits of his labor cannot be gauged in so short a time.

Let's dissect.

First, a disclaimer: All of the departed players might be playing better had they stayed in Philadelphia. Or, they might be playing worse.

Maclin will approach his career high in receptions (85) and he clearly is better than any receiver in the Eagles' ranks. He also is 27, with nine catches for 100 yards in his last three games. Agholor has been unproductive . . . but he's a rookie who missed three games with an ankle injury. Give it time.

On the line, Mathis might be better than Allen Barbre, Matt Tobin and former starter Andrew Gardner, but he isn't playing at his previous Pro Bowl level in Denver. Herremans isn't playing at all in Indianapolis. Their retention would not have made the Eagles 7-2.

McCoy's two-headed replacement, DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews, have combined for 878 rushing yards and 387 receiving yards. McCoy has 528 and 177. All three have played hurt and missed at least one game.

Bradford was knocked out of Sunday's game with an 82.4 passer rating, less than seven points better than Foles, who got benched Monday.

Meanwhile, the transformation of the defensive backfield has been miraculous. A journeyman corner is starting at safety, two career backups are playing prominent corner roles and they don't miss standout nickel corner Brandon Boykin.

Kelly might have given Maxwell more money than necessary - essentially, about $11 million for the first 3 years. After that, salary-cap implications will likely require restructure, release or trade. It's a second-tier deal for a second-tier corner. First impressions are hard to overcome, and Falcons star Julio Jones outclassed Maxwell in the season opener.

But it was Maxwell's first game in a new system, which didn't include the rest of the Legion of Doom; Maxwell's coordinator said he misused Maxwell; and Jones is the best receiver alive.

Maxwell might be overpaid, but not waaaaaay overpaid. It's not as though Maxwell has played like Nnamdi Asomugha.

Rowe still might turn out to be Lito Sheppard; who, you might recall, was a first-round pick in 2002 but he did not even play in four of his first six NFL games. Sheppard lasted 10 years in the NFL and went to two Pro Bowls.

Hicks seemed like a luxury pick in the third round, but he turned out to be a godsend. Then again, the knock on Hicks coming out of college was that he spent too much time injured.

Guess what? Hicks tore his pectoral muscle at Dallas two weeks ago and ended his season.

Hicks might spend the next two seasons on IR. He also might unseat a starter and become an all-time Eagles great.

Check back in Year 3.

By then, you might want to give Chip the GM a bonus.

Blog: ph.ly/DNL