When the terms of the Eagles-Rams trade involving Sam Bradford and Nick Foles were officially revealed on Tuesday evening, it was announced that draft picks were involved. The instant reaction by many was that this means an Eagles trade up for Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota is no longer likely.

According to Ian Rapoport, that might not be the case. See his following tweet:

I wouldn’t. RT @CowboysNation: I think we can end the Mariota to Philly talk. — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 10, 2015

Well, that's interesting. It doesn't mean too much, but it's something.

There have been theories flying around that the Eagles traded for Bradford in order to flip him in a trade to get Mariota. This would make sense due to a report from early February that indicated teams at the top of the 2015 NFL Draft order prefer Bradford to Mariota and Jameis Winston.

Jimmy Kempski explored this Bradford trade theory a little bit.

Why wouldn't Bucs or Titans just trade for Bradford themselves if they like him? Maybe they know they can get Bradford + a boatload of picks — Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) March 11, 2015

@SheilKapadia By getting the Eagles to trade for Bradford first, they maximize value for 1st or 2nd overall pick. And Rams also get Foles. — Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) March 11, 2015

Some more fuel to keep the flame alive:

Great job by @MikeGarafolo on @FOXSportsLive . On validity of Eagles/Mariota rumors: "Yes! Everything is on the table with this guy." — P. Schrager (@PSchrags) March 11, 2015

But when you hear things like Chip Kelly really pushing hard for Bradford, as Peter King noted, it's hard to believe they're going to give up even more picks for Mariota now.

The Mariota pipe dream isn't officially dead yet. But it seems more likely than not that Sam Bradford will be the Eagles starter in 2015.