Just days before the new league year is set to begin, the Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles hit the NFL world with a blockbuster.
The Bills will be sending linebacker Kiko Alonso to the Eagles in exchange for running back LeSean McCoy, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
McCoy, who turns 27 in July, is in the third year of a five-year deal and has a cap hit of $11.6 million this season. He is coming off a season that saw him rush for 1,319 yards and five touchdowns.
In the move the Bills traded for one of the best running backs in the league and in doing so gave up a young, talented player but one who is coming off a major knee injury as well. The Bills have two good young linebackers already in Preston Brown and Nigel Bradham and possibly saw Alonso as more of a luxury for a defense that ranked fourth in the NFL without him this season.
With new head coach Rex Ryan’s succesful track record on defense, that side of the ball is going to be just fine.
It also means that the Bills will be moving on from free agent C.J. Spiller, who just happened to be on set on NFL Network’s “NFL Total Access” just minutes before the trade went down.
“[Willie McGinest, one of the anchors on the show] walked in and said, ‘Did ya’ll hear that Kiko’s getting traded to the Eagles for Shady?’ ” Spiller said during his appearance on the show. “And to me, I thought he was joking, like just trying to play a joke on me, because he’s a Patriot, and I was a former Bill,”
“But then, he put it on TV, and I seen it, and then probably about five minutes later, management called me and told me that they (were) going in that direction, and pretty much giving me a ‘Thank you for your services.’”
For the Eagles, they had themselves quite a busy day, shedding $31.75 million against the salary cap by trading McCoy and cutting linebacker Trent Cole and defensive back Cary Williams. They will be big players with free agency on the horizon.
Kiko, who is due just $1.1 million this season, will get a chance to reunite with his college coach, Chip Kelly, who he played for at the University of Oregon.
He finished his rookie year in 2013 with 159 tackles (87 solo, 72 assists), two sacks, one forced fumble and four interceptions.
The trade cannot become official until next Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. ET, the day the new league year officially begins.
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