It may be the offseason, but the news from around the league keeps flowing in with one week to go until the start of the new league year. It also sounds like a big trade is about to go down, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Schefter reports late Tuesday that the Philadelphia Eagles will be trading running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for linebacker Kiko Alonso and that deal will be made official next week.
Filed to ESPN: Bills have notified LB Kiko Alonso he is going to be traded to Philadelphia for RB LeSean McCoy. Trade official next week.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 3, 2015
Alonso, who missed the 2014 season with a torn left ACL, played every defensive snap in his rookie year with the Bills and ranked third in the NFL with 159 tackles that season. He finished second in the NFL defensive rookie of the year voting in 2013. The deal will reunite Alonso reunites with his college coach, Chip Kelly.
As for McCoy, who has been with the Eagles since they drafted him in the second-round of the 2009 NFL Draft out of Pittsburgh, he rushed for 1,319 yards and five touchdowns last season on 312 carries. He also caught another 28 balls for 155 yards.
McCoy was scheduled to be the Eagles biggest cap charge in 2015 and by trading him they should be able to clear $8.55 million in cap space prior to taking on Alonso’s rookie deal, which still has two years left on it.
Now that the Eagles will have more cap space to work with, it makes you wonder if they might try to push a little harder to retain the services of linebacker Brandon Graham, who is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent next week. If Graham is allowed to test free agency, the Pittsburgh Steelers might be interested in signing him depending on his asking price.
The Eagles also informed defensive end Trent Cole on Tuesday that they will be parting ways with him as well after the start of the new league year. Cole was scheduled to be the Eagles second highest cap charge in 2015 behind McCoy. By making him a post June 1 release, they will eventually clear $10.025 million in salary cap space for the 2015 season.
The Eagles also released veteran cornerback Cary Williams on Tuesday and that move freed up another $6.5 million in 2015 salary cap space.
The Steelers won’t play either the Bills or the Eagles during the 2015 regular season. The Steelers might play both of those teams during the preseason, however.
Update: Agent Drew Rosenhaus, who represents McCoy, just posted on Twitter that he just spoke with the Eagles organization and there is no trade in place for his client at this time. Is also adds that here have been discussions but that nothing is finalized.
