Photo Courtesy: Rick Leal
The Philadelphia Eagles’ recent trade of LeSean McCoy has brought the media and McCoy himself to question the motivations behind the trade of McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for Kiko Alonso and draft picks.
On Tuesday, McCoy voiced his feelings on Chip Kelly and how he treats his popular skill-position players.
In an article from espn.go.com: “I don’t think he likes or respects the stars,” McCoy said. “I think he likes the fact that it’s Chip Kelly and the Eagles.”
Since Kelly came to Philadelphia before the 2013 season, the team has parted ways with the following: quarterback Nick Foles, wide receivers DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin, offensive lineman Todd Herremans and outside linebacker Trent Cole.
Also from the espn.go.com article: “It was ‘DeSean Jackson – a high-flying, take-off-the-top-of-the-defense receiver.’ Or the quick and elusive LeSean McCoy,” he said. “I don’t think [Kelly] likes that.”
In my opinion, why cut ties with a player who has been productive since the team drafted him in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft? McCoy is healthier than his replacement and reigning NFL rushing leader DeMarco Murray. I can’t speak for the Eagles’ organization, but there appears to be some validity to McCoy’s comments about Kelly’s regime. With all the roster turnover, I see the team as less talented than the previous two seasons and more injury prone. Kelly’s fast-paced offensive scheme must have failed in his mind if he was willing to cut ties with Jackson and Maclin and leave a void in both the experience and speed departments at the receiver position.
I agree with McCoy in regards to the fact that the team has replaced proven players in Kelly’s offensive scheme with less proven ones. I do not see the Eagles making much headway in the 2015 season due to the high level of player turnover in respects to the proven players the team acquired and the up and coming talent they are likely to experiment with this season.
Kelly needs to take a step back and look at this situation closely. McCoy naming Jackson specifically shows that Kelly and the team brass handled the situation badly.
LeSean, your comments were necessary and brought up two more burning questions with what is wrong with the hierarchy in Philly:
- What has led Kelly to deviate away from his fast paced spread offense?
- How can a young NFL coach have total roster control in only his second season? (10 players on the Philadelphia roster played for Kelly at Oregon, which shows his control of the final roster decisions.)
