Chip Kelly's provocative offseason took another turn last week when the Eaglesbrought in Tim Tebow for a workout.
Tebow was barely out of the facility when NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported that no signing in Philadelphia was imminent. Still, the workout represented progress for Tebow, who had been off the NFL grid since being released by the Patriots in August 2013.
Kelly explained why he brought Tebow in during a conversation with NFL Media's Steve Wyche at the NFL Annual Meeting in Arizona.
"I've always been a fan of Tim," Kelly said in an interview on NFL Total Access. "We bring in a lot of players for private workouts, it's just he's the one that everyone keeps talking about. We brought in Terrelle Pryor for a workout and Thad Lewis in for a workout. When players are available for you to work them out it's the same thing of going to the Veteran Combine or going to the Super Regional Combine.
"It's getting an exposure to a player so that when you have to make a decision and say 'Hey, what are we going to do now. You say, I don't know anything about these players. Let's bring them in and work them out, and it may be too late at that point in time.' So all we're doing is just doing our homework."
Kelly values mobility in his quarterbacks, a trait Tebow certainly possesses. The question is whether his limitations as a passer will ever allow him to regain relevance at the game's highest level. Kelly at least sounds open to the idea of giving the polarizing quarterback one more shot.
The latest Around The NFL Podcast recaps the inaugural Veteran Combine and discusses which star players were helped (and hurt) by free agency. Find more Around The NFL content on NFL NOW.
