NFL: Did Philadelphia Eagles Make Mistake By Trading LeSean McCoy to Buffalo Bills for Kiko Alonso? [Vote]
The Philadelphia Eagles have agreed to trade running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for linebacker Kiko Alonso according to NFL reports.
This is by far the biggest deal of the 2015 offseason thus far. McCoy has been one of the best running backs in recent years rushing for more than 1,000 yards in four of the last five seasons. Outside of fancy Fantasy Football statistics, McCoy is one of the best all around backs in the game because of his versatility. McCoy has phenomenal talents when it comes to running and catching passes out of the backfield.
As for the player the Eagles received, linebacker Kiko Alonso will re-join his former head coach Chip Kelly who previously coached Alonso at Oregon. Alonso had a great rookie season in 2013 with 159 tackles, but he missed all of last season because of a torn ACL.
So, what the heck were the Eagles thinking?
They traded away an elite running back for an unproven linebacker who missed all of last season. On top of that, they didn't even get back a draft pick in return for some insurance. The only initial positive for the Eagles appears to be that they saved some salary cap space. However, McCoy is far from being one of the highest paid offensive players in the league. McCoy is scheduled to make $9.7 million in 2015, $6.9 million in 2016, and $7.6 million in 2017.
In addition to being one of the most productive backs in the league and making an average of a team-friendly $8 million over the next three seasons, McCoy is still a very young back. Not many people realize it, but McCoy is one year younger than DeMarco Murray. As we all know, running backs don't last very long in the NFL, but McCoy showed no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
What makes this decision even more puzzling is the 2013 NFL Draft. The Eagles twice had the chance to select Alonso before the Bills did with the No. 46 overall pick. Instead of drafting Alonso then, the Eagles now have him coming off an ACL tear, and they had to give up McCoy to get him.
Just last offseason the Eagles released DeSean Jackson after "gang affiliation" rumors spread. Without Jackson on the field for them last season, the Eagles struggled down the stretch losing three of their last four games and missed the postseason.
Although the trading of McCoy seems like a "shady" move, it appears as if the Eagles are rebuilding. Former head coach Bill Parcells once said: "They want you to cook the dinner; at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries. Okay?" While many owners and general managers wouldn't let their head coach have this much leverage in player personnel, Jeffrey Lurie is giving Kelly a lot of freedom to do what he wants.
Only time will tell how this trade plays out. The Eagles did save some cap space, but they now have a huge hole to fill on offense, and they still have one of the worst secondary's in the league. The Eagles are giving Kelly full power to make decisions, and he has to fix these team issues going forward.
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