Alright, take a minute to digest what just happened. That’s right, the leading rusher in Eagle history just got traded to Buffalo for linebacker, Kiko Alonso.
Reaction: It really does have shock value regardless of how you look at it. Shady has been the Eagles most consistent offensive weapon over the past 5 years and just like that, he’s gone. Over the past two years, Kelly has shed the salary (and talent) of his two biggest playmakers, DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy. However, unlike when they let Jackson go, the Eagles received an extremely talented, young, and cheap playmaker on defense. I can’t fully react to this deal until I see the entire offseason plan played out to its fullest, but as of now, I’m fine with the decision.
What’s Next: After the release of Cole and Williams, and now dealing McCoy, the Eagles will be about $55 million under the cap. Not to mention, I fully expect them to release Demeco Ryans to be gone next, this will give the Eagles over $60 million in cap space. This gives them a lot of flexibility to retain the services of Jeremy Maclin if they can come to an agreement. Also, for anyone who thought Chip was going to, “ignore the defense”, they’re going to be proven wrong. Chip has paired two dynamic young linebackers together in Kendricks and Alonso and Eagles fans should be excited. I fully expect the Eagles to go hard after players like Byron Maxwell, Jason Worilds, and Devin McCourty, possibly even Darelle Revis. I expect the Eagles to make their “Dream Team” shopping spree look like a trip to Five and Below. Look for the Eagles to address their running back position by either an economic veteran free agent like a CJ Spiller, or maybe a Justin Forsett, or drafting a young player in the mid rounds. Runners the Eagles could target in the draft in the middle rounds would be TJ Yeldon, Duke Johnson, or Tevin Coleman.
Big Picture: Chip won 10 games in each of his first two seasons and proved to Jeff Lurie that he legitimately knows what he’s doing. Soon after, he made a power play to get Howie Roseman out of his way since the two didn’t seem to be on the same page. Chip got what he wanted and is now the architect of this program. I believe Chip will address the many holes on the defensive side of the ball via Free Agency so that he is able to put together a crazy package to land his man, Marcus Mariota. Chip values the quarterback above all else, and you’re going to see that when he puts together a deal for Mariota.
I don’t know if this is really the plan, and we don’t know if this plan will work. However, my greatest fear has always been that Chip Kelly would leave Philadelphia before ever getting “his guy,” and we’d always be left wondering. If this plan comes to fruition, we’ll at least know that we went all in with Chip Kelly. In Chip we trust…right?
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