I don’t know if Marcus Mariota on the Eagles is spawning good memories or PTSD. There will never be an era in this city like #DoTheDeal:

Lets take a walk down memory lane. It was 2015 and Chip Kelly was waddling the sidelines while his former star at Oregon just won the Heisman. The Eagles had the 20th pick and we actually convinced ourselves that a guy who has never run an NFL front office and never worked a trade in his life could get all the way down to #1 and get his guy. We traded Nick Foles, who threw for 27 TDs and only two picks two seasons before, for Sam Bradford a month before the draft. All of us expected this was part of Chip’s plan. I don’t think there was one Eagles fan who thought Bradford was gonna be the guy under center Week 1 until Roger Goodell announced Mariota was going to the Titans.

This was the peak of Sal Pal hyperbole machine. Contradicting statement after contradicting statement that only a guy who wants a forensic investigation for throwing a meaningless game could work up. This guy sent Philadelphia into hysteria. The maestro of #DoTheDeal. A phrase that was put on a shirt and made its way out to Hawaii to Mariota himself before the draft.

Here’s a good recap of what a typical week on sports radio in Philly went from Kyle Scott back in the day, but if you don’t feel like reading it I’ll summarize for you:

One day Sal Pal would go on 97.5 and say it was impossible for the Eagles to trade down that many picks. Then another day he would theorize Mariota pulling an Eli Manning and refusing to play for the team who picked him until they trade him to Philly. The next he’d work himself up into a lather and come to the conclusion moving up to #1 isn’t hard at all. You only have to realistically beat out three teams for Mariota. Just get below the Jets at #6 and you could have your guy. Obviously Mariota went #2 so Sal, as we know, was always full of shit. There was also a theory Chip would force his way out of Philly and coach the Bucs. This was sports radio on steroids. You think it’s worse now? The supposed respected professionals were the ones becoming the callers. The inmates were running the asylum.

The rumored haul according to Pete Schrager via Philly Sports Network was a gigantic one:

“Last year the Eagles offered the Tennessee Titans (and I know this)

a 2015 1st round pick
a 2015 2nd round pick
a 2016 1st round pick

Take any of our Quarterbacks, (that’s Bradford, that’s Sanchez, that’s whoever)
Take anyone on our Defense”

As we know Chip was fired that season, Howie took back control, Marcus Mariota has a 34-40 career record, and we won a Super Bowl. Now we finally have our guy.

What a time to be alive. I can’t believe it was only eight years ago.