One of the more surprising offseason moves has been the LeSean McCoy trade. The running back was traded to the Bills earlier in the month, and the two sides soon came to an agreement on an extension. Meanwhile, the Eagles replaced McCoy with a pair of big names, DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews.
McCoy did not mince words when he was asked about the Eagles‘ offseason strategy. In fact, while appearing on the The Rich Eisen Show, the 26-year-old touched on Chip Kelly‘s willingness to pay new running backs, but not one of their stars (via Sheil Kapadia of PhillyMag.com):
“I thought about that a little bit,” he said. “I didn’t understand it. I should say that. And Chip I think is a really good coach. I think this is something different for him kind of managing both, from being a coach to now kind of managing the team as far as the players that they get and they pay.
“I saw that they originally were trying to get Frank Gore, and he backed out. So then when they got DeMarco and they got Ryan Mathews, I thought it was like a panic move. With that media in Philadelphia, they can get tough on you. So I guess that was just the way to make it right. I don’t know. I can’t really answer it. They took two backs to replace one. I think DeMarco’s a hell of a back. I think he’ll do a good job there. I’m not sure how that went.”
Let’s take a look at some more notes from the AFC East…
- Defensive end Jabaal Sheard has plenty of reasons to be excited. Not only did he sign a two-year, $11MM contract with the Patriots, but he also went from a non-playoff team to a Super Bowl contender. “Coming from a not-so-good program to a great program that has been winning and doing well, I’ve just been excited,” Sheard told Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. “I want to win in the league, and I want to be part of a great organization. That was a big part of me signing.”
- Another new member of the Patriots, tight end Scott Chandler, is thrilled about the opportunity to compete for a championship. “I’ve been playing for a while, and I wanted to be a part of an organization that has a pretty good chance to win,” said Chandler (via Howe). “Mr. (Robert) Kraft and coach Belichick have done an amazing job of not only creating that but sustaining it for a long period of time. I’m looking forward to going into this year and doing whatever I can to be a part of that.”
- Dolphins safety Louis Delmas re-signed with the organization yesterday, and the 27-year-old revealed that he’s quickly recovering from his season-ending ACL tear. “The knee is great,” Delmas said (via ESPN.com’s James Walker). “My doctors and my training staff have been doing a great job of managing me and making sure I’m doing everything protocol-wise to be able to play the first game of the season…I definitely know that I will be ready for the first game of the season.”