Philadelphia Eagles: The Dawn of “The Dream Team” 2.0

Its an era Philadelphia Eagles’ history that all Eagles fans like to forget.

After the 2010 season, in which Michael Vick had an MVP caliber year and the Eagles lost in the NFC Wild Card game to the Green Bay Packers, Philly went out and signed a bunch of expensive and high-quality free agents … so they thought.

A team that was dubbed by Vince Young “The Dream Team” quickly became a nightmare that Eagles fans could not wake up from. The offense was sporadic, the defense was dreadful, and a team that was supposedly destined for greatness quickly became the laughing stock of the NFL. The Eagles went 8-8 in 2011, but then found away to upstage their 2011 performance, by finishing 4-12 the next.

Jan 17, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles new head coach Chip Kelly addresses the media during a press conference at the Philadelphia Eagles NovaCare Complex. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The team then fired Andy Reid and hired former Oregon Ducks head coach (yes, he is from Oregon; could you tell?) Chip Kelly.

In his first season, Kelly was looked up to as a god. He turned a dreadful team into a playoff contender. He turned a backup quarterback, who was a third round pick the year before, into a household name. The Eagles offense was new, it was fast and it produced. The Eagles were eventually tripped up by the Saints in the Wild Card round, but things looked like they were finally heading in the right direction for the team that many once considered “contenders”.

But as Philadelphia fans know all too well, something bad always seems to happen — even when good seems to be on the horizon.

Nov 3, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson (10) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the third quarter against the Oakland Raiders at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports

The team cut DeSean Jackson following the 2013 season, and their first round pick had people questioning the Eagles scouting department. A dark cloud had been cast over the Eagles once again.

Despite the drama, the team came flying out of the gate and soared to a fantastic 5-2 record.

But as always, the “in with the bad” trend struck again.

Nick Foles broke his collarbone. Mark Sanchez played shaky throughout the final eight games of the season. The Eagles secondary fell of the tracks.

What started as a promising season quickly turned into a disaster and the Eagles found themselves on the outside looking in come January.

Despite that, Eagles fans still held their heads high and they believed that the future was still bright for their beloved Eagles. With cap space to sign some top defensive backs and resign their own players, Philly could advance to playoff form yet again.

Earlier in the week, the Eagles released Cary Williams and Trent Cole. Neither of them came as a complete shock, but the move that followed sent ripples through the NFL.

You’ll see why I recapped the recent past in a second, but think about the following:

Heading into free agency, the Eagles have holes at Safety, Cornerback, Outside Linebacker, Receiver and now Running Back.

Though they have so many needs that need to be filled over the next few weeks, the Eagles have nearly $50 million dollars in cap space.

With that said, think about this: The Eagles have positioned themselves to spend tons of money in free agency, which could lead to the formation of the second “dream team” in the past five seasons.

Feb 1, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; New England Patriots free safety Devin McCourty (32) celebrates after the game against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Patriots defeated the Seahawks 28-24. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Jeremy Maclin, Devin McCourty, Byron Maxwell, Jason Worilds, Kareem Jackson, Mark Ingram — all names on the market — all names that could realistically head to Philadelphia.

Will history repeat itself?

The last time the Eagles tried to build a contender through free agency, it failed miserably. Last season though, the Patriots went out and signed three of their four starting members of their secondary and it paid dividends immediately as they went on to win the Super Bowl.

While the situations aren’t exactly the same, it can work — it will take the right coaches and the right leaders in the locker room, but certainly possible.

Do the Eagles have the right coach and the right leaders in their organization right now? I don’t know. It sure seems as though Kelly and locker-room leaders like Brent Celek and DeMeco Ryans can hold the fort down.

Ultimately, you could consider that issue a toss-up.

We will have to wait to see how the Chip Kelly experiment works out over the next year or so. At the moment however, there is no lack of intrigue surrounding the HC with the sun shining brightly on him.

Will Chip Kelly stand out above the rest or fly too close to the sun? Right now, it’s a “wait and see” game.