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Report: Philadelphia Eagles were close to cutting LeSean McCoy

By Ryan Ratty

Nov 27, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy (25) runs with the ball against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 27, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy (25) runs with the ball against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Philadelphia Eagles were prepared to cut LeSean McCoy.

Now a few hours removed from the breaking trade, everyone in the NFL world knows about the trade that sent LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills and Kiko Alonso to the Philadelphia Eagles. Over the past two weeks, the Eagles have trimmed the fat on their roster. What that means is that they have been cutting a ton of players in order to clear cap space. It was reported a couple of weeks ago that the Eagles planned on restructuring McCoy’s deal.

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However, before they did that, they decided ask around the league and see if anyone was interested in him. Fortunately for the Eagles, there was one suitor.

Bleacher Report’s Michael Schottey reported that the Eagles called around the league to find anything in exchange for McCoy.

Instead of cutting McCoy and washing their hands free of him, the Eagles were able to bring back a player that many have forgotten about. In his rookie year in 2013, Alonso was arguably the best linebacker all of football. In that year, Alonso recorded 159 tackles, two sacks, and four interceptions. The Eagles haven’t had an impact inside linebacker since Jeremiah Trotter was on the team. Now with the addition in Alonso, the Eagles have that stud inside linebacker in their 3-4 defensive front.

Even though the Bills could’ve easily gotten him i free agency, the fact of the matter is that they’re extremely happy with this move. It’s no secret that Rex Ryan loves for his teams to run the football. With Shady McCoy, the Bills get a top-five running back and a player that can make an impact on an offense in so many ways. McCoy will take pressure off whoever plays quarterback, which is the position that has hurt the Bills over the past few years. Regardless, both teams won in this trait, however, it’s just interesting that this deal was very close to not happening.

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