LB Kiko Alonso is a budding star. In 2013, his rookie season, the 2nd round draft pick collected 159 tackles, 4 picks, 2 sacks, and 2 Fumble Recoveries, while winning the Defensive Rookie Of the Year. Alonso is a fun LB to watch. He loves contact, he'll hit anyone and anything, and will play well every day. However, Alonso missed 2014 with a torn ACL that he tore in May, but when the season starts, he will have had a year to recover. Will he have the strength to stay healthy?
RB LeSean McCoy is an NFL star. In 2011, he led the league in rushing TD's, 17, and total TD's with his 20 scores. In 2013, it was rushing yards, and total scrimmage yards, as he tore the league apart with 1607 yards rushing, and 11 TD's with his 539 yards receiving to solidify Chip Kelly's entrance to the NFL. He's scored 50 TD's in the past 5 years, and entering his 7th NFL season, McCoy has potential to still explode. He'll be 27 when the season starts, how much wear will his engines have?
Chip Kelly put together a heck of a team during his 4 years at Oregon. Kiko Alonso was there all 4. He was the leader of his defense, collecting 141 tackles, 3.5 sacks and 6 INT's. Kelly gets the young man he recruited out of Los Gatos, California back with his NFL team in Philadelphia. Alonso did sit out 2010, his sophomore season, with an injury, so I think his health will be a major concern in the years to come. Still, with a defensive player as explosive as Alonso, the Eagles defense is getting a boost unlike any they've had in quite some time.
LeSean McCoy is needed in Buffalo. Rex Ryan knows that, he knows that with his uncertainty about the QB position, he'll need a strong run-heavy offense. And he believes he can do that with McCoy and veteran Fred Jackson paired on the team. McCoy still may be at the top of his game, so Buffalo will win instant rewards starting early. The question is, how long will he be at the top of his game? Anyway, McCoy is a great addition to the Bills offense, and a great offensive start to the Rex Ryan Era in Buffalo.
So, who got the better end of the trade? There is a lot of debate from this point of view, so here's my opinion.
I think the Eagles got the better end of this trade.
The Eagles get a young defensive star with a ton of potential, who paired at ILB with Mychal Kendricks provides a fast duo, second, they net about $9 million from the trade. $13 million will buy them the cream of the crop of Running Backs in this years free agency, and with Darren Sproles and Chris Polk already on the team, any running back they get will benefit a lot from signing. Adrian Peterson? DeMarco Murray? CJ Spiller?
The Bills get a Star Running Back to pair with their reliable Fred Jackson. The Bills think that they have Alonso's departure covered by Nigel Bradham. If Bradham struggles this year, Buffalo fans are going to be angry. No matter how the offense is, Alonso is an explosive fast player, and Buffalo fans will quickly turn on Ryan, and the Bills won't have much money to use on the salary cap this year. With McCoy joining the team, assume the Bills have about $25 million to spend. Not very much more to build on.
Only the following seasons will tell who got the better end, but either way, it's a rare solid trade. Something tells me that this already crazy 2015 offseason has crazier things to come.
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