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1. Tennessee, with Marcus Mariota, was not in play for Kelly. I talked to someone with knowledge of the Titans’ thinking Tuesday night who said the team “absolutely” was not waiting for Kelly, and had not been actively discussing acquiring Kelly from the Eagles for a high draft choice. One reason: Marcus Mariota likes Kelly but is not dependent on him for NFL success. Now, that doesn't mean the Titans won't sniff around Kelly now that he is a free agent. But the Titans weren’t waiting for him to be free.

 

3. Lurie wanted to do this now, so he could be in play for some of the top coordinators who will be coaching candidates. Interesting what the source with Tennessee knowledge said to me: “If Lurie fires Chip now, obviously it means he wasn't going to be able to get something going with the Titans.” Right. And that's a big deal. Everyone will ask today, “Why didn't the Eagles try to get something from Tennessee if they knew they were dumping Kelly?” And they could have gotten something minor for Kelly—but would it have been worth the sideshow? No. With the Titans not in play for Kelly, Lurie simply had to do what he felt was best for his team, which started with firing Kelly and starting over with a full cadre of candidates for the job from around the NFL.