Chip Kelly spoke to cornerback Brandon Boykin on Saturday night and informed him that he'd been traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The 25-year-old did not see it coming.
"In talking to him last night, I think he was stunned. He was disappointed," Kelly told reporters on Sunday. "I think he really liked it here. He was very close with his teammates. I told him myself that I thought the timing itself wasn't a real good time. But they actively pursued him."
Kelly, though, viewed the move as a neccessary evil. Beleaguered by a lack of cornerback depth, Pittsburgh offered Kelly a conditional fourth-round pick for a defensive back who was floating on an already-crowded depth chart in Philadelphia.
The pick locks in as a fourth-rounder so long as Boykin plays 60 percent of the team's snaps in 2015.
Still, the breakup was not viewed as a positive for both sides. On his way out, Boykin hinted that Kelly has trouble relating to certain players on his roster, an accusation that is not necessarily new to Kelly as he re-rools his roster.
Boykin clarified those comments in Pittsburgh on Sunday.
During Sunday's news conference, Kelly told reporters he wasn't sure why Boykin would feel that way.
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