There was a lot of fanfare when the Eagles signed free agent cornerback Byron Maxwell to a huge contract in Chip Kelly’s final year, back in 2015.
There was very little when he was shipped away to Miami a year later.
Maxwell says he never heard from Doug Pederson after Kelly was fired, and suspected he might be traded.
But Maxwell, who was in town with the Dolphins as the two teams scrimmaged against eachother at the NovaCare Complex Monday, said he understood why he was traded.
“It was obvious they needed a quarterback,” he said.
The Eagles used the draft pick acquired in the trade to trade up for the Browns’ No. 2 overall pick to take Carson Wentz. And even though Maxwell is content in his new Southern Florida home — and understands the nature of the NFL as a business — he wants to beat the Eagles. Bad.
“I would be lying if I told you I don’t want to do better than the Eagles do. I do,” Maxwell said. “I want to win more games than them, I want to prove them wrong.”
Maxwell said he did not feel sentimental returning to his 2015 home since it was just a year — though he does miss some of his teammates.
One of whom, Nelson Agholor, is the only remaining wide receiver he used to cover in practice. And like the Eagles’ front office and coaching staff, he can attest to why the Birds made the right choice in retaining Agholor to play the slot while trading Jordan Matthews to the Bills.
“Nelson, we knew then that Nelson was going to be good,” Maxwell said. “He had all the tools. He was willing to learn and he asked questions. I new he was going to be a solid reeiver.”
