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With Eagles coach Chip Kelly further putting his imprint upon the Eagles while also subtly twisting the team’s beak into a duckbill, the notion that he’ll try to trade up from No. 20 in the draft to secure the player he see as the surest of sure things becomes stronger. But there’s an important thing to remember regarding the potential all-in-and-then-some effort to slide up into the top five, the top two, or all the way to No. 1.

There’s a limit to how many picks the Eagles can trade.

According the the league office, trades conducted before the draft begins can include draft picks in 2015, 2016, and 2017. Once the draft starts (i.e., the moment the Commissioner declares the draft to be open and places the team with the first pick on the clock), trades can include picks from 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.

With the Eagles having a long way to go to get in position to select quarterback Marcus Mariota, the message is clear: Waiting until the draft commences provides even more flexibility.

It’s unclear what it would take to get the Eagles from No. 20 to wherever they’d need to go to reunite Kelly with Mariota. Three years ago, Washington gave up the sixth pick, a 2013 first-rounder, a 2014 first-rounder, and a 2012 second-rounder to move up only four spots for quarterback Robert Griffin III. If a fourth first-round pick is necessary to get the Eagles where they need to be, they can throw the 2018 selection onto the pile, if they wait until the draft begins.