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Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie confirms why LeSean McCoy was traded

By Will Osgood

Mar 10, 2015; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy holds up his new jersey after a press conference at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 10, 2015; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy holds up his new jersey after a press conference at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports /
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Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie confirmed head coach Chip Kelly wants a one-cut runner in his power offense, which wasn’t LeSean McCoy

The Philadelphia Eagles might have a more dynamic offense in 2015. At least that is certainly the hope after the Eagles shipped away franchise rushing leader LeSean “Shady” McCoy to the Buffalo Bills prior to the official start of free agency.

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Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie spoke to reporters at the NFL Owner’s Meetings in Phoenix and confirmed that the reasoning behind the trade was to get a one-cut running back for Chip Kelly’s offense.

Lurie admitted the Eagles had been considering this for some time.

"“We’ve been talking about the asset value of LeSean for a long time, because he wasn’t the style of runner that Chip prefers, but a great player.”"

The Eagles were one team– along with the New Orleans Saints — who drew criticism from many in the media as well as among fans, for their aggressive moves this offseason.

Philadelphia, of course, wound up bringing in both DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews to take McCoy’s place in the Eagles’ backfield. Murray was the 2014 NFL Offensive Player of the Year, while Mathews has underwhelmed a bit in his career, after being drafted 12th overall out of Fresno State by the San Diego Chargers in the 2011 NFL draft.

To the fan’s eye, it seems that Murray and Mathews actually have similar running styles to Murray as dynamic backs who do their best work when they ad lib a bit.

But Kelly has done his due diligence on each and believes they fit. Of course, even if they are not exactly the one-cut runners Kelly desires, he was able to pay the two players about equal that of McCoy while adding a young and highly competent inside linebacker for the Eagles’ 3-4 defense.

That inside linebacker was Kiko Alonso who played for Kelly at the University of Oregon. All three of the mentioned players acquired this month by Kelly have had injury issues throughout their careers, with Alonso missing all of 2014 with a torn ACL he suffered prior to the start of the 2014 season.

The Eagles, though, believe they have a remedy for injury-riddled players, employing a fairly unique sports science program, which includes magical smoothies.

And despite bringing in Sam Bradford, and Kelly glowing about the new quarterback, rumors persist that the Eagles are looking to acquire Oregon Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota to run their offense.

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