Do the Eagles (and Jeffrey Lurie) actually have some brilliant, masterful strategy? | Marcus Hayes

So little of what the Eagles have done in the last month makes sense. Firing a Super Bowl-winning head coach. Hiring an uncredentialed replacement. Seeking to trade the franchise quarterback, and crippling the team’s ledger in the process.

It doesn’t make sense ... unless Jeffrey Lurie believes something is rotten and must be thrown out and buried.

In that case, everything makes sense. The Gold Standard has a plan.

Lurie has never chosen the orthodox path. He hires only first-time head coaches. First, Ray Rhodes, then the fourth Black coach in NFL history; then Andy Reid, who had never even been a coordinator; then Chip Kelly, an arrogant college coach; then Doug Pederson, a former backup quarterback turned high school coach who wandered back to the NFL but had never called plays. Now, Nick Sirianni. Nick who? Exactly.

Lurie drafted Donovan McNabb instead of Ricky Williams, signed Michael Vick fresh out of jail, and traded the future to draft Carson Wentz, a small-time quarterback with a big-time arm. Lurie overpaid Nick Foles to be Wentz’s backup. Lurie drafted Jalen Hurts in the second round last April to replace Foles as both Wentz’s injury insurance and, in Wentz’s mind, to be his own personal Brutus.

It seems ever more obvious that Lurie envisions Hurts as the long-term face of his franchise, nurtured by young, interchangeable coaches. Lurie isn’t always right, but he has always painted the big picture with bright colors. Why should now be any different?

Besides, he’ll be 70 in September. This might be Lurie’s last big rebuild, and there’s no telling where it will stop. Pay attention Fletcher Cox, Lane Johnson, Brandon Brooks.

If this is the beginning of a Process, there was only one possible path to where we are, and to where we seem to be headed.

» READ MORE: Trading Carson Wentz could go down as one of the greatest personnel blunders in sports history, and some people don’t get it | David Murphy

Lurie told us the day he fired Doug Pederson that Pederson didn’t deserve it; that Lurie had to make “tough decisions on prognosticating the future,” to “retrench and rededicate and allocate resources,” that their “difference in vision is much more about where we’re at as a franchise,” and Pederson’s “vision has to be: what can I do to fix this right away?” Lurie isn’t interested in “right away,” so he fired Pederson.

The assumption at the time was that Lurie considered Pederson and Wentz’s differences irreconcilable. That might be true, but it also might be irrelevant. Neither Pederson nor Wentz has performed remarkably well since 2017, so Lurie might not have wanted either of them.

Brilliant!

Lurie declined to hire Josh McDaniels, an offensive whiz with head-coaching experience and six Super Bowl rings won in New England. He passed on former Jets head coach Todd Bowles, who coordinates the Tampa Bay defense, which stifled the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LV. He didn’t even interview either of the Super Bowl offensive coordinators — neither Eric Bieniemy, who works with Reid for the Chiefs, or Byron Leftwich, who, in an offseason erased by a pandemic, cobbled together a Super Bowl champion attack led by a 43-year-old quarterback (Tom Brady); a retired tight end (Rob Gronkowski); a castoff running back (Leonard Fournette); and a problematic wide receiver who’s still on probation (Antonio Brown).

Instead, Lurie hired Sirianni: 39, bright, agreeable, and a hell of a dresser. Sirianni arrived from the Colts with the blessing of his mentor, head coach Frank Reich, the former Eagles offensive coordinator, whose character and emotional intelligence Lurie respects more than any man in the NFL. As he said the day Sirianni was introduced, Lurie wanted Frank Reich Lite:

“The first step I think in being a great coach in modern football today, modern sports today, is to care very much about the players and coaches you work with.”

That’s Sirianni. But there’s more to it.

Sirianni hired former Chargers offensive coordinator Shane Steichen, 35, to do that job in Philadelphia. He brought the Colts’ 37-year-old defensive backs coach, Jonathan Gannon, with him as defensive coordinator. And he convinced 33-year-old Florida offensive coordinator Brian Johnson to leave the college game and be the Eagles’ quarterbacks coach.

All three assistants are young enough and good enough to be head coaches one day. You know, in case that Sirianni guy doesn’t work out.

Brilliant?

Lurie despises disharmony. He hates tension.

If Wentz doesn’t want to be in Philadelphia, Lurie wouldn’t want him to be here. He won’t care if it costs him $34 million against the 2021 salary cap. He won’t care if all he gets is a bag of hammers in return. Lurie famously called Wentz “fixable” on the day he fired Pederson, but that’s what used car salesmen say about the cars that won’t start.

You can envision the scene in Howie Roseman’s office.

Lurie says, “Get rid of him,” turns on his heel, and walks out, bouncing on his toes.

He leaves behind Roseman, tears streaming down his cheeks, calling Indianapolis and Chicago and New England and every other team in the market for Wentz, trying to finagle a second-round pick between sobs ... and maybe trying to convince the Bears to send Foles back his way.

» READ MORE: Carson Wentz is poised to be Philadelphia’s greatest sports villain if he leaves the Eagles | Marcus Hayes

Why would Lurie not be desperate to keep Wentz? Because whether Wentz plays for the Eagles or some other team, he’ll still cost Lurie about $34 million. And if Lurie thinks Wentz wants out, then Lurie will drive him to the airport in his own black Tesla.

Lurie would much rather try to develop a loyal player, and that means Hurts. He’s set up to do so. Lurie now employs three quarterback experts in his Quarterback Factory: Sirianni, Steichen, and Johnson, the last of whom was coached by Hurts’ father in high school in Texas.

And if we know anything about Lurie, we know he loves quarterbacks who played for Texas high schools.

Quarterbacks like Nick Foles.

Brilliant.