Photo courtesy of Mr.Schultz, Wikimedia Commons
The Philadelphia Eagles agreed to trade running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for linebacker Kiko Alonso yesterday. For the Eagles, this is a major loss offensively, but it does reunite Alonso with head coach Chip Kelly, who coached him at the University of Oregon.
According to Mike Florito of NBC Sports, the trade will be finalized on Tuesday at 4 p.m. when the league will start processing deals.
Some students around campus said that the McCoy trade will be bad for the Eagles, and their own teams, who will have to face the Buffalo Bills this upcoming season and in seasons to come.
Eagles fan and senior Markese Tucker said the decision to trade LeSean McCoy to the Bills is a poor one.
“I think that the Eagles made a horrible decision. I think that’s one of many bad decisions that the Eagles organization has made in the last two decades of letting really good players go because of off the field issues,” Tucker said. “So my thing is, let the players play on the field; they produce on the field, and they won’t be a distraction off the field to a certain extent, then let them play and that’s why we never been to a Super Bowl.”
Other football fanatics, including criminology major and New York Giants fan Mike Denino said they are relieved that McCoy has been traded to the Bills.
“He was always a problem against the Giants, and now the weight’ off the Giants’ shoulders,” Denino said. “Hopefully the Eagles don’t pick up [former Oregon quarterback Marcus] Mariota. We’ll see. Now it’s a problem for the Jets, so let them deal with it.
Accounting major George Hunkele, 19, said he does not like the trade and that McCoy will do big things with the Bills.
“I think Rex Ryan is a run heavy coach, and I think LeSean McCoy is going to get 30 to 40 touches a game,” he said. “I think he’s going to be a great player, and I think the Bills are going to make the playoffs so I don’t like the move.”
Because of this trade between the Eagles and the Bills, the Bills have released CJ Spiller from the team almost immediately after the move was announced, according to Dan Hanzus of NFL.com.
James Perlas, 20, said that the trade could ultimately end up benefiting both teams.
“He’s a great player,” Perlas said. “But maybe he just wasn’t functioning correctly on the Eagles at this point. So they felt like this will free up space on their roster for somebody new, why not send him off. The Bills could use him because they haven’t been so hot the past couple of years, so honestly, if they’re going to pick up somebody new, it can’t really hurt.”
jgoldfar@ramapo.edu
