@AdamSchefter: Filed to ESPN: Bills have notified LB Kiko Alonso he is going to be traded to Philadelphia for RB LeSean McCoy. Trade official next week.
C.J. Spiller learned his Bills career was over while sitting in the green room at NFL Network on Tuesday. The messenger was Willie McGinest, who told him that the Bills had acquired LeSean McCoy from the Eagles in exchange for Kiko Alonso.
"I thought he was joking," Spiller said.
Five minutes later, Spiller received a phone call from the Bills explaining that the reports were true. Spiller described it as a "thank you for your service" call.
"I hoped that I could return (to Buffalo)," Spiller said Tuesday on NFL Total Access. "Very few guys get to play their whole career at one team, but unfortunately that doesn't happen in this business and I found out today it doesn't happen in this business."
With the Eagles suddenly looking to fill a vacancy in their backfield, Spiller was asked about the possibility of he and McCoy trading places in 2015. Spiller will be fair game to all 32 teams next Tuesday.
"I'm pretty sure that Chip (Kelly) has my agent's phone number so I'm pretty sure we might have to make a call over there," he said.
"I've never been in that type of system before," referring to the Eagles' hyped offensive attack, "but I don't think I'd have any problem adjusting to it."
Credit to Spiller, who was in the highly unusual situation of reacting to this career-altering moment less than 30 minutes after it all went down. And let's not dismiss the possibility of Spiller taking McCoy's old gig in Philly.
Spiller has the versatility to play in Kelly's system and would come at a much cheaper cost than McCoy. Far crazier things have happened.
...on Revis's club option that pays him a $12M roster bonus on 4/1. The Eagles don't currently have a starting CB (unless you consider Boykin a starter).
I don't think they're going after Suh - I think they're going to back up the truck for the best CB and S on the market.
Alonso is an all pro when healthy. I think Shady was on the way down.
Alonso has never been All Pro.
Thought he was his rookie year for some reason. Regardless, I think he is one of the best LBers in the league when healthy. He is definitely an injury risk and very undersized, but his instincts for the game are just insane.
I think McCoy was due for a steep, steep decline. He has tread on the tires and wasn't that productive last year. We've seen RBs fall off very fast before (Ray Rice pre-suspension comes to mind out of recent RBs, but there a ton of examples).
Alonso, if healthy, is someone who could be a pro bowl and occasional all pro for 5-6 years.
I was never as high on him as a player as was the general consensus. He was obviously a handful for us, but I put that more on our defensive players' incompetence (including and especially our recently franchised DE) against cutback runners and read options. Our inability to defend that played right into his wheelhouse.
But that doesn't change the fact that he's enormously expensive at a fungible position that is even more fungible in Philly's offense. His being a scumbag off the field (and probably one on it and in the locker room) doesn't help matters.
This isn't as great for the Giants as many say here. It doesn't undo the damage he's done to us, and the Eagles just freed up a boatload of money. The question is what they do with it. If it's Suh, then that really sucks.
But I'd be worried about the Oregon thing in Philly given the QB in the draft.
Even if they had receivers to throw to (and they don't) the Eagles are not going to win a playoff game with Foles, Sanchez, or a rookie playing QB for them.
We'll find out for sure soon enough, but I don't think the Eagles are dumping salary to make a big free agent splash. The franchise is now in full rebuild mode.
I'm not sure the concern over Suh and Mariotta....
the Eagles play a 3-4....Suh isn't playing the nose in Philly. And I'd doubt they'd change to a 4-3......would be more wise to stay 3-4 and add to their secondary.
Regarding Mariotta....McCoy could have been a chip in moving up. Most likely now, they have to give up more draft picks to get their guy.
All I am saying is, McCoy was a nice piece to lean on as a rookie QB gets experience.
I just have the feeling this guy is going to run Philly into the ground, then bolt back to college.....
the Eagles go for Suh or not, it sure looks like Kelly is clearing as much cap space as possible to sign FAs because his Ahab like quest for MM means he won't have any high round draft picks.
that going after secondary help, and then possibly trading for Mariotta is the way this team is headed.
Risky.....they will have a lot of cash tied up in potentially 2-3 players, and not have top draft picks at their disposal for a couple years depending on how a trade went down.
I wish the Eagles kept McCoy. They really did not use him last year in ways that have burned us in prior years. He was simply less effective last year. So, by removing him and adding all of that cap room...THAT makes me nervous.
I wish the Eagles kept McCoy. They really did not use him last year in ways that have burned us in prior years. He was simply less effective last year. So, by removing him and adding all of that cap room...THAT makes me nervous.
He shredded us on Monday night, what were you watching? We were powerless to stop him.
The only reason he didn't completely torch us in the second game....well, that was a meaningless game (and he still ran for 100 on us)...............
Trading him is probably the right move, but trading him in a deal for Mariotta was probably the more prudent choice, not for a guy coming on an ACL.
this is a good move for the Eagles. I wonder if they considered trading McCoy to help move up to get Mariota.
Paul, I think they probably asked the necessary teams, and with probably more interest in draft picks, just decided to trade him to primarily benefit their cap. I mean, how else can you justify trading a Top 5 back for a guy with coming on an ACL?
If McCoy was a Giant we'd all be devastated. Alonzo has the potential to be the best 4-3 coverage middle linebacker in the NFL, but he can't shed blocks in run defense. Bills improved immediately in run defense with Brandon Spikes at MLB. The way to beat them now is with a power running game. Why would they do this in the same division as Dallas?
year and didn't play a down his 2nd and tore his ACL for a 2nd time.
Kelly is an arrogant ass. Good. DC's have his offenses number. IMO he's a bit panicked as he doesn't really have a QB to run his beloved system. He also dumped anyone with a spine. He's a more successful version of Greg Schiano. A little success has gone to his head.
They will fall apart now that offenses don't have to worry about McCoy. If Maclin they are looking at a top 5 draft pick. Whoi the fuck is going to make anyone worried on offense? Riley Cooper? Dude went power mad and its going to be great watching them implode.
Demeco Ryans is probably not going to fully return
Alonso is an all pro when healthy. I think Shady was on the way down.
Alonso has never been All Pro.
Thought he was his rookie year for some reason. Regardless, I think he is one of the best LBers in the league when healthy. He is definitely an injury risk and very undersized, but his instincts for the game are just insane.
I think McCoy was due for a steep, steep decline. He has tread on the tires and wasn't that productive last year. We've seen RBs fall off very fast before (Ray Rice pre-suspension comes to mind out of recent RBs, but there a ton of examples).
Alonso, if healthy, is someone who could be a pro bowl and occasional all pro for 5-6 years.
This idea that he wasn't productive last year is a great example of a manufactured, fantasy story.
Early in the season he had an injury and wasn't all that productive in the first four games. This of course caused all of the fantasy owners that drafted him #1 overall to shit themselves.
Since ESPN's reporting is primarily about Fantasy rather than actual football for the last decade or so, they ran with this idea that "something is wrong with McCoy this year" for most of the season.
He had fewer rushing TD's and fewer receptions and receiving yds than the prior year, but let's look at his actual production (rushing wise) for his career to put last year in perspective (although how anyone can think that a 1300yd back averaging over 4yds per is somehow unproductive is beyond me)
Quote:
Year GP Att yds avg lg td fd fum flst
2009 PHI 16 155 637 4.1 66 4 28 2 1
2010 PHI 15 207 1,080 5.2 62 7 48 1 1
2011 PHI 15 273 1,309 4.8 60 17 84 1 1
2012 PHI 12 200 840 4.2 34 2 45 4 3
2013 PHI 16 314 1,607 5.1 57 9 79 1 1
2014 PHI 16 312 1,319 4.2 53 5 67 3 2
So, yes- one could say that fantasy wise he had a down or unproductive year because of only 5 rushing td's and lower receiving numbers- but in actual, real football- he had a very good year, and was "unproductive" perhaps relative to the previous year. Relative to the rest of the NFL? Not even close.
I would love to have a 26yr old running back on the Giants that is as unproductive as McCoy.
Here's the scary thing: In a traditional offense with a lead blocker, how much more productive is he going to be?
Anyway- just a pet peeve of mine about how sports reporting (when it comes to the NFL) caters more towards fantasy than reality.
(Not singling you out, Sonic Youth- you just happened to be the most recent example- multiple folks have expressed this view)
they are going to need a large part of the cap space
for a year. Chip just did not like mccoy. What I don't understand is why he would not have acquired draft picks. Trading him isn't the surprise, he is certainly on the down side of his career, but not getting assets to help trade up for Chip's man crush makes it all rather strange.
that rather than clearing space for Suh, the Eagles are prepping a "Ricky Williams" type draft trade where they will more or less give up their picks to move up to get Mariotta and fulfill Chip's dream. In the meantime, they will go ahead and get guys like Alonso who are young and can essentially be figured as if he was a draft pick. And with the rest of that money, spend on several free agents to fill gaps across the roster that would have been found otherwise in the draft.
In the Eagles scheme, what would they do with Suh? Play him at NT or play him as a 2 gap DE, which negates most of what he's good at. Go back and look at Warren Sapp when he signed with the Raiders. He went from a one gap, penetrating DT who was a monster, to a 2 gap system where he was ineffective as a DE.
McCoy averaged 94 rushing yards/game and 4.64 yards/carry over his last 12 games last season. Amazing how those first 4 games when he played through an injury really skewed people's perception of his year.
McCoy averaged 94 rushing yards/game and 4.64 yards/carry over his last 12 games last season. Amazing how those first 4 games when he played through an injury really skewed people's perception of his year.
Not enough touchdowns and receptions went to sproles/elsewhere = not as many fantasy points = unproductive/ he's on the downside/ he's got a lot of wear and tear.
The last part of course not based in reality.
I could see it if he had multiple 350+ carry years or if he had over 400 carries last year, but he's never been that kind of workhorse. Reid refuses to commit to the run and Kelly spreads the ball around.
IMO, barring injury he's going to be a beast this coming season. Wouldn't be at all surprised to see him push 2K yds and 20+ tds under Rex in Buffalo.
a good move by the Eagles and is likely going to make them tougher next year. Football Outsiders ranked (amongst RBs) McCoy 24th in DVOA last year and PFF had him 36th in rushing, 34th in blocking and dead last in pass catching. They also ranked the Eagles OL highly in run blocking.
The prime for an NFL RB is short and the decline is often very fast. The Eagles basically dumped a declining RB (the most replacable position in the NFL) and got ~$10M cap room and a promising young LB (albeit on coming off of ACL). They have a lot of flexibility to go after FAs.
I think Dallas is going to come back to earth next year with their cap troubles and the Eagles will be our main competition to win the NFC East.
C.J. Spiller learned his Bills career was over while sitting in the green room at NFL Network on Tuesday. The messenger was Willie McGinest, who told him that the Bills had acquired LeSean McCoy from the Eagles in exchange for Kiko Alonso.
"I thought he was joking," Spiller said.
Five minutes later, Spiller received a phone call from the Bills explaining that the reports were true. Spiller described it as a "thank you for your service" call.
"I hoped that I could return (to Buffalo)," Spiller said Tuesday on NFL Total Access. "Very few guys get to play their whole career at one team, but unfortunately that doesn't happen in this business and I found out today it doesn't happen in this business."
With the Eagles suddenly looking to fill a vacancy in their backfield, Spiller was asked about the possibility of he and McCoy trading places in 2015. Spiller will be fair game to all 32 teams next Tuesday.
"I'm pretty sure that Chip (Kelly) has my agent's phone number so I'm pretty sure we might have to make a call over there," he said.
"I've never been in that type of system before," referring to the Eagles' hyped offensive attack, "but I don't think I'd have any problem adjusting to it."
Credit to Spiller, who was in the highly unusual situation of reacting to this career-altering moment less than 30 minutes after it all went down. And let's not dismiss the possibility of Spiller taking McCoy's old gig in Philly.
Spiller has the versatility to play in Kelly's system and would come at a much cheaper cost than McCoy. Far crazier things have happened.
I don't think they're going after Suh - I think they're going to back up the truck for the best CB and S on the market.
Alonso has never been All Pro.
Quote:
Over the last 2 years the Eagles will have moved on from DeSean Maclin and Mccoy. Their three best offensive weapons.
When did the Eagles dump Maclin???
by not franchising him he has become an UFA
Quote:
Alonso is an all pro when healthy. I think Shady was on the way down.
Alonso has never been All Pro.
Thought he was his rookie year for some reason. Regardless, I think he is one of the best LBers in the league when healthy. He is definitely an injury risk and very undersized, but his instincts for the game are just insane.
I think McCoy was due for a steep, steep decline. He has tread on the tires and wasn't that productive last year. We've seen RBs fall off very fast before (Ray Rice pre-suspension comes to mind out of recent RBs, but there a ton of examples).
Alonso, if healthy, is someone who could be a pro bowl and occasional all pro for 5-6 years.
"The front seat, Mother. I sit in the front seat now."
But that doesn't change the fact that he's enormously expensive at a fungible position that is even more fungible in Philly's offense. His being a scumbag off the field (and probably one on it and in the locker room) doesn't help matters.
This isn't as great for the Giants as many say here. It doesn't undo the damage he's done to us, and the Eagles just freed up a boatload of money. The question is what they do with it. If it's Suh, then that really sucks.
But I'd be worried about the Oregon thing in Philly given the QB in the draft.
They can't trade for Mariota and give up 2 1st rounders to sign JPP
We'll find out for sure soon enough, but I don't think the Eagles are dumping salary to make a big free agent splash. The franchise is now in full rebuild mode.
Regarding Mariotta....McCoy could have been a chip in moving up. Most likely now, they have to give up more draft picks to get their guy.
All I am saying is, McCoy was a nice piece to lean on as a rookie QB gets experience.
I just have the feeling this guy is going to run Philly into the ground, then bolt back to college.....
3-4 end? That's a huge gamble, in addition to giving a guy huge money.
You don't pay a guy mega bucks then play him where he doesn't really play.......that's just my opinion.
Risky.....they will have a lot of cash tied up in potentially 2-3 players, and not have top draft picks at their disposal for a couple years depending on how a trade went down.
He shredded us on Monday night, what were you watching? We were powerless to stop him.
The only reason he didn't completely torch us in the second game....well, that was a meaningless game (and he still ran for 100 on us)...............
Trading him is probably the right move, but trading him in a deal for Mariotta was probably the more prudent choice, not for a guy coming on an ACL.
Paul, I think they probably asked the necessary teams, and with probably more interest in draft picks, just decided to trade him to primarily benefit their cap. I mean, how else can you justify trading a Top 5 back for a guy with coming on an ACL?
Kelly is an arrogant ass. Good. DC's have his offenses number. IMO he's a bit panicked as he doesn't really have a QB to run his beloved system. He also dumped anyone with a spine. He's a more successful version of Greg Schiano. A little success has gone to his head.
They will fall apart now that offenses don't have to worry about McCoy. If Maclin they are looking at a top 5 draft pick. Whoi the fuck is going to make anyone worried on offense? Riley Cooper? Dude went power mad and its going to be great watching them implode.
Sonic Youth said:
Quote:
Alonso is an all pro when healthy. I think Shady was on the way down.
Alonso has never been All Pro.
Thought he was his rookie year for some reason. Regardless, I think he is one of the best LBers in the league when healthy. He is definitely an injury risk and very undersized, but his instincts for the game are just insane.
I think McCoy was due for a steep, steep decline. He has tread on the tires and wasn't that productive last year. We've seen RBs fall off very fast before (Ray Rice pre-suspension comes to mind out of recent RBs, but there a ton of examples).
Alonso, if healthy, is someone who could be a pro bowl and occasional all pro for 5-6 years.
This idea that he wasn't productive last year is a great example of a manufactured, fantasy story.
Early in the season he had an injury and wasn't all that productive in the first four games. This of course caused all of the fantasy owners that drafted him #1 overall to shit themselves.
Since ESPN's reporting is primarily about Fantasy rather than actual football for the last decade or so, they ran with this idea that "something is wrong with McCoy this year" for most of the season.
He had fewer rushing TD's and fewer receptions and receiving yds than the prior year, but let's look at his actual production (rushing wise) for his career to put last year in perspective (although how anyone can think that a 1300yd back averaging over 4yds per is somehow unproductive is beyond me)
Year GP Att yds avg lg td fd fum flst
2009 PHI 16 155 637 4.1 66 4 28 2 1
2010 PHI 15 207 1,080 5.2 62 7 48 1 1
2011 PHI 15 273 1,309 4.8 60 17 84 1 1
2012 PHI 12 200 840 4.2 34 2 45 4 3
2013 PHI 16 314 1,607 5.1 57 9 79 1 1
2014 PHI 16 312 1,319 4.2 53 5 67 3 2
So, yes- one could say that fantasy wise he had a down or unproductive year because of only 5 rushing td's and lower receiving numbers- but in actual, real football- he had a very good year, and was "unproductive" perhaps relative to the previous year. Relative to the rest of the NFL? Not even close.
I would love to have a 26yr old running back on the Giants that is as unproductive as McCoy.
Here's the scary thing: In a traditional offense with a lead blocker, how much more productive is he going to be?
Anyway- just a pet peeve of mine about how sports reporting (when it comes to the NFL) caters more towards fantasy than reality.
(Not singling you out, Sonic Youth- you just happened to be the most recent example- multiple folks have expressed this view)
Ryans is probably gone and Cox isn't a linebacker.
2014 - 1319
2013 - 1607
2012 - 840
2011 - 1309
2010 - 1080
In the Eagles scheme, what would they do with Suh? Play him at NT or play him as a 2 gap DE, which negates most of what he's good at. Go back and look at Warren Sapp when he signed with the Raiders. He went from a one gap, penetrating DT who was a monster, to a 2 gap system where he was ineffective as a DE.
Not enough touchdowns and receptions went to sproles/elsewhere = not as many fantasy points = unproductive/ he's on the downside/ he's got a lot of wear and tear.
The last part of course not based in reality.
I could see it if he had multiple 350+ carry years or if he had over 400 carries last year, but he's never been that kind of workhorse. Reid refuses to commit to the run and Kelly spreads the ball around.
IMO, barring injury he's going to be a beast this coming season. Wouldn't be at all surprised to see him push 2K yds and 20+ tds under Rex in Buffalo.
The prime for an NFL RB is short and the decline is often very fast. The Eagles basically dumped a declining RB (the most replacable position in the NFL) and got ~$10M cap room and a promising young LB (albeit on coming off of ACL). They have a lot of flexibility to go after FAs.
I think Dallas is going to come back to earth next year with their cap troubles and the Eagles will be our main competition to win the NFC East.