Reid Helped Convince Titans To Take Mariota

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As Ken Whisenhunt and the Tennessee Titans were deciding what to do with the No. 2 overall pick, he had a conversation with a coach who was once in a similar situation: Andy Reid.

In a story by Peter King of The MMQB, Whisenhunt described his chat with Reid on the first day of the draft.

“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.” Now, let me make it clear: Reid did not ruin the Eagles’ chances of trading for Mariota. That would be overly simplistic and, honestly, false. But it’s quite a coincidence that the coach Kelly replaced, in the hours before the draft, gave Whisenhunt one more reason to say yes to Mariota and no to Kelly.

In 1999, the Eagles could have received a haul from the Saints for the No. 2 pick, which Mike Ditka would have used on Ricky Williams. But instead, Reid and company settled on Donovan McNabb.

Meanwhile, King also shot down an NFL Network report that suggested the Eagles were willing to give up Fletcher Cox, Mychal Kendricks, Brandon Boykin, more players, two first-round picks and a third-round pick to move up to the No. 2 spot.

The Eagles, as Kelly said Thursday night in Philadelphia, never offered players as part of a package to obtain Mariota. In fact, The MMQB learned Thursday night that Kelly never offered the widely rumored packages of either three first-round picks or two first-round picks and Sam Bradford, in an attempt to obtain the second pick of the draft. I can tell you this much is true: The Titans basically scared off suitors because they continually told teams they wanted to take Mariota, and it would take a stupid offer to obtain the pick. In the end, Tennessee GM Ruston Webster and coach Ken Whisenhunt stuck to their guns.

The Eagles have no motivation to admit that players currently on the roster were offered up in a trade. And the truth is, other than Cox, those players could still get dealt. But if King’s information is coming from Tennessee, it’s noteworthy.

In the end, the most important thing is that the Titans really wanted to pick Mariota. And that’s what they did.