Philadelphia Eagles: What’s the impact of trading LeSean McCoy?

Numerous outlets, including ESPN‘s Adam Schefter, reported the Buffalo Bills will trade outside linebacker Kiko Alonso to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for running back LeSean McCoy.

Alonso is coming off of a season-ending ACL injury. The deal has rattled the entire NFL, as it’s easily the biggest move that’s been made so far this offseason.

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For the Bills, they take a serious step toward making the playoffs. With C.J. Spiller likely gone, Buffalo now has McCoy to carry the ball. McCoy is arguably the most elusive back in the league — in my opinion he’s the most elusive — and he will be used all over the place. He can run the ball and he’s incredibly dangerous in the passing game, especially on screen plays.

Even if the Bills still have question marks surrounding the quarterback position, Shady McCoy can likely carry a majority of the offense on his shoulders. SportsCenter tweeted out the fact that over the last two years, no running back has carried the ball as much as McCoy. The Bills still have a stingy, aggressive defense, and they should be in a position to make the playoffs next year.

If you think about it, this Bills team isn’t too dissimilar from Rex Ryan’s AFC Championship Jets teams of the late 2000s and early 2010s. Those teams featured a strong defense and run game and an average quarterback.

Sep 15, 2013; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills middle linebacker Kiko Alonso (50) during the game against the Carolina Panthers at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

For the Eagles, it’s much more perplexing, as it’s honestly hard to make heads or tails on what Chip Kelly has planned. Rest assured, Eagles fans. There’s definitely something up Kelly’s sleeve.

Kelly reunites with Alonso, whom he had at Oregon, but this is the second consecutive year the Eagles have parted ways with one of their best offensive weapons. Last year, the absence of DeSean Jackson hurt the team, so it will be interesting to see how the Eagles adapt to life after McCoy.

Moving McCoy to Buffalo also creates more cap room, though, so maybe Kelly wants to make sure he has enough money to lure Byron Maxwell and possibly a guy like Chris Culliver to Philadelphia. Who knows, maybe the Eagles will try to add Devin McCourty.

If that’s the case, then moving McCoy makes sense, although it’s still rather strange. Running backs don’t last forever, but McCoy (26) is very much in the prime of his career, and he’s coming off a season in which he rushed for over 1,300 yards. The Eagles have some depth built in at running back, but is it enough to replace the (when healthy) perennial 1,000 yard rusher?

Darren Sproles will be 32 at the start of the season, and Chris Polk is unproven and has never carried the ball more than 11 times a game, according to NFL.com. One has to imagine the Eagles will sign or draft — or maybe both — another running back in the offseason. A player like Mark Ingram would fit in nicely.

Although there are certainly positives to getting rid of Shady, it’s hard to justify trading a running back in his prime for a linebacker who’s played a mere 16 games in the NFL. Alonso finished 2013 with 159 tackles, two sacks and four interceptions.

McCoy isn’t the only Eagle to leave town, as Kelly and the Eagles have also cut ties with guard Todd Herremans, halfback James Casey, cornerback Cary Williams and pass-rusher Trent Cole, according to NFL.com.

Moving forward, this move shows Chip Kelly and the Eagles are not afraid of pulling the trigger to make big moves, which is intriguing, especially with the draft coming up.

The big fear is obviously whether Kelly’s plan will work out or not. That’s something we’ll have to have a wait-and-see attitude about, but if this move ends up faltering, it probably won’t be long before the Philadelphia faithful turn on Kelly.

Here’s something to keep an eye on: Philadelphia plays Buffalo in 2015, and it will be interesting to see if McCoy will burn the Eagles, much like DeSean Jackson did last year.

Next: Philadelphia Eagles should stay away from Marcus Mariota

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