LeSean McCoy traded to Bills

[XtremeJibber2001]

Boy, Chip is really shaking things up, isn't he? Last year he released DeSean Jackson and this year Cary Williams and Trent Cole were already released. Now he's trading McCoy for that beast Kiko Alonso. It will be an interesting year and I'd guess we'll see Marcus Mariota in Eagles green this year.

Source: Eagles Agree To Trade McCoy To Bills

Adam Schefter discusses the potential trade between the Bills and the Eagles that would send LeSean McCoy to Buffalo and Kiko Alonso to Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Eagles have a trade in place to send running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills, a source told ESPN.

In return, the Bills will send linebacker Kiko Alonso to the Eagles, the source said.

Chip Kelly knows exactly how he wants the Eagles to look, and trading away LeSean McCoy is just the latest piece of the puzzle he's putting together, Phil Sheridan writes.

Player-for-player trades rarely happen in the NFL, but the LeSean McCoy-Kiko Alonso deal makes plenty of sense for both sides, Mike Rodak writes. Story

The trade cannot be made official until the new league year begins Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET.

McCoy has the NFL's third-most rushing yards (6,792) and fourth-most rushing touchdowns (44) since the Eagles drafted him in the second round in 2009. He finished last season with 1,319 rushing yards, third-most in the NFL.

A source familiar with McCoy's thinking told ESPN's Josina Anderson that the veteran running back is not pleased with the move.

"He's a Pennsylvania kid. He's never played football outside of Pennsylvania -- high school, college, pro," the source said. "So of course he's not happy."

The source also told Anderson that McCoy is "frustrated" and is "not going to make it easy, that's for sure."

The Eagles will clear cap space by trading McCoy, who was set to count $11.95 million against their 2015 cap. The Bills will owe McCoy, who is signed through 2017, $10.25 million this season.

Eagles running back Darren Sproles took to Twitter to express his shock over the news of McCoy's impending departure.

Philadelphia also released two players Tuesday -- defensive end Trent Cole, who was set to count for $11.625 million against the salary cap, and cornerback Cary Williams, who would have counted for $8.17 million -- while they take on less than $1 million in each of the next two seasons by acquiring Alonso, who will be a restricted free agent after the 2016 season.

Alonso, a second-round pick in 2013, played every defensive snap for the Bills as a rookie and ranked third in the NFL with 159 tackles. He finished second in the Associated Press' voting for defensive rookie of the year.

After tearing his ACL while training last July, Alonso was placed on the non-football injury list and missed the entire 2014 season.

A source told ESPN's Adam Caplan that Alonso's rehab has gone very well and he has increased his training activities and started running.

"I think I'm at almost 7½ months and I'm doing just about everything," Alonso told the Bills' official radio show on Feb. 25. "Obviously at a very controlled pace, just not going obviously 100 percent. I wouldn't say I'm at 100 percent yet but I'm definitely moving in the right direction and taking it slow.

After six seasons in Philadelphia, running back LeSean McCoy's numbers show he is one of the best to wear an Eagles jersey.

Total Team Rank
Rush yds 6,792 1st
Scrim yds PG 100.8 1st
Rush TD 44 3rd
-- ESPN Stats & Information
"I anticipate being 100 percent before camp. By camp, I definitely feel I'll be 100 percent."

An Oregon product, Alonso will reunite with his former college coach, Chip Kelly, who will enter his third season in Philadelphia. Without Alonso, the Bills' top options at linebacker next season will be Nigel Bradham and Preston Brown. They also could re-sign Brandon Spikes or add a free agent like David Harris, who played for new Bills head coach Rex Ryan while with the Jets.

The Bills are expected to adopt a run-first approach under Ryan and offensive coordinator Greg Roman. The Bills' leading rusher last season, Fred Jackson, turned 34 last month, while C.J. Spiller will become an unrestricted free agent next week.

"Management called me and told me that they were [trading for McCoy] and pretty much giving me a 'thank you for your service,'" Spiller said during an appearance on NFL Network on Tuesday evening. "I feel still the same. Nothing's changed. The game plan is still the same. The only thing is that I won't be returning to Buffalo."

Spiller said he found out that he will not be returning to the team when he was in the studio for his NFL Network appearance. "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," he said.

This is the second time in less than a year that the Bills and Eagles have made a trade involving a running back. Buffalo acquired Bryce Brown during May's draft for a conditional fourth-round pick from Philadelphia. Brown, who remains under contract with the Bills, was active for seven games, rushing for a career-low 126 yards.

That trade prompted Jackson and McCoy, then with the Eagles, to exchange jabs on Twitter.

Tuesday's news also made waves with other NFL players -- past and present -- on Twitter.

[junior]

Just picked up QB from Vikings as well. Wonder how much Rex has to do with these moves. The McCoy trade was a shocker.

[Geoff]

Matt Cassel makes sense with Kyle Orton retiring. The Bills need some kind of veteran QB to plug in if EJ Manuel continues to Sanchez and Rex Ryan doesn't exactly have a history of being able to develop young quarterbacks. Rex Ryan saw Matt Cassel twice during Brady's 2008 injury year and must have looked at game film while preparing for the Vikings in 2014 and KC in 2011 even though Cassel didn't play in those games.

I haven't seen LeSean McCoy play enough to have much of an opinion. Looking at his stats, he's not a yards-after-contact guy and he's not an inside-the-tackles guy. 4.2 yards per carry is good. He had 312 carries which was #2 in the league behind DeMarco Murray. He doesn't fumble much. A good pickup if he continues to stay healthy. After 6 years in the league and with 300+ carries the past two years, you never know how many more years he has in him. Maybe the below-average yards-after-contact prolongs his career if he's taking less big hits going for the extra yards.

[brownman]

Rex is building the strongest roster in New York.
Leveraging that to achieve title success ... jury is deadlocked.

[XtremeJibber2001]

I can't even keep up with all the Eagles changes ... going to be an interesting year witnessing the "chip kelly" experiment.

[Geoff]

For the AFC-East, Miami getting Ndamukong Suh is the bigger change to the likely division outcome. The Dolphins were low-average against the rush. This should make them dominant.

What's the over-under on the number of games Suh gets suspended for in 2015? I'll take 2. He can't make it through a season without stomping somebody.

[SnoBrdr]

For the AFC-East, Miami getting Ndamukong Suh is the bigger change to the likely division outcome. The Dolphins were low-average against the rush. This should make them dominant.

What's the over-under on the number of games Suh gets suspended for in 2015? I'll take 2. He can't make it through a season without stomping somebody.

If he evben plays up to his current level.

About the only guy who really has played that way is JJ Watt.

Most just retire without turning in the uniform.

BTW, who's playing QB for the Fins, Bills and Jets ?

[junior]

For the AFC-East, Miami getting Ndamukong Suh is the bigger change to the likely division outcome. The Dolphins were low-average against the rush. This should make them dominant.

What's the over-under on the number of games Suh gets suspended for in 2015? I'll take 2. He can't make it through a season without stomping somebody.

If he evben plays up to his current level.

About the only guy who really has played that way is JJ Watt.

Most just retire without turning in the uniform.

BTW, who's playing QB for the Fins, Bills and Jets ?

evben ?

[Atomic1]

Stephen A Smith said something on his show " Maybe Chip Kelly is a Racist " as the reason for the recent player movement in Philly . So thanks to Obama , Holder and Sharpton anything you do even in the sports world now, you don't like the deals.. .... " You're a racist " .

[freeski]

Stephen A Smith said something on his show " Maybe Chip Kelly is a Racist " as the reason for the recent player movement in Philly . So thanks to Obama , Holder and Sharpton anything you do even in the sports world now, you don't like the deals.. .... " You're a racist " .

Sounds like the whole team are racists. The NFL needs to close the whole team down. No need to find out how many are involved. This team is no better than a racist frat house. I just hope Sharpton can make some money here.

[SnoBrdr]

Stephen A Smith said something on his show " Maybe Chip Kelly is a Racist " as the reason for the recent player movement in Philly . So thanks to Obama , Holder and Sharpton anything you do even in the sports world now, you don't like the deals.. .... " You're a racist " .

It ain't just sports that's like this.

[XtremeJibber2001]

Stephen A Smith said something on his show " Maybe Chip Kelly is a Racist " as the reason for the recent player movement in Philly . So thanks to Obama , Holder and Sharpton anything you do even in the sports world now, you don't like the deals.. .... " You're a racist " .

I think Stephen A Smith says more about himself and, his true racist colors, by making such broad statements.

[SnoBrdr]

Stephen A Smith said something on his show " Maybe Chip Kelly is a Racist " as the reason for the recent player movement in Philly . So thanks to Obama , Holder and Sharpton anything you do even in the sports world now, you don't like the deals.. .... " You're a racist " .

I think Stephen A Smith says more about himself and, his true racist colors, by making such broad statements.

And ESPN just reupped him for huge dollars.

[freeski]

Stephen A Smith said something on his show " Maybe Chip Kelly is a Racist " as the reason for the recent player movement in Philly . So thanks to Obama , Holder and Sharpton anything you do even in the sports world now, you don't like the deals.. .... " You're a racist " .

I think Stephen A Smith says more about himself and, his true racist colors, by making such broad statements.

And ESPN just reupped him for huge dollars.

Kelly wants people who want to play football and not be a playa.

[SnoBrdr]

I can't even keep up with all the Eagles changes ... going to be an interesting year witnessing the "chip kelly" experiment.

Running back Frank Gore has gotten cold feet on joining the Philadelphia Eagles, a source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, confirming an earlier report by NFL Network.

The reversal leaves the Eagles in search of a running back after already agreeing to trade LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills.