People around the NFL raised their eyebrows when Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly invited polarizing quarterback Tim Tebow in for a try-out last week. Was this just an instance of Kelly being Kelly, they asked, or did the Eagles truly think they could salvage the former Heisman Trophy winner's pro career?

Tim Tebow Tries Out For Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles have had a chaotic offseason, jettisoning stars LeSean McCoy, Jeremy Maclin, and quarterback Nick Foles. They took former no. 1 overall pick Sam Bradford back in exchange for Foles, but Bradford's career has been marred by constant injuries.

The NFL had its annual coaches meeting this week, and Kelly explained to NFL.com why he had eyes on Tebow.

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“I’ve always been a fan of Tim. We bring in a lot of players for private workouts, it’s just he’s the one that everyone keeps talking about," Kelly said. "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.”

The Eagles ultimately decided not to extend Tebow any offer.