The trade that sent LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for Kiko Alonso shocked LeSean McCoy, Rex Ryan, and the rest of the football world. But apparently, not all people were surprised. Maclom Jenkins told NFL Network's NFL AM on Wednesday that most players inside the Eagles locker room were not surprised by the trade.
"For everybody who is in the locker room and really knows Chip and what he's looking for, it wasn't necessarily surprising," said Jenkins.
Jenkins confirmed what many have speculated, that it was McCoy's running style that caused the trade: "You look at the style of runner that Chip wants in his offense and even though Shady is one of the best backs in the league, he's not necessarily what Chip is looking for all the time…Chip thinks he's a great running back, he knows his talent is there, but our (system) is really predicated on downhill, somebody who is going to hit the hole every time. It's about getting up in the defenders face as fast as you can and that's not necessarily Shady's running style," Jenkins said.
While the "guys in the locker room who kind of know what's going on weren't surprised by" the trade, they were surprised by what the Eagles got in return, according to Jenkins: "In the locker room a lot of guys weren't surprised by the trade, what we were more surprised of was that it was just a player-for-player trade," he said. "I think everybody thought we would have gotten more — Kiko, plus a couple draft picks, you know, somebody else."
Jenkins is not the only one who was questioned whether Chip Kelly has maximized the return on the Eagles assets. He orchestrated the outright release of 26-year old DeSean Jackson, who was coming off the best season of his career. He traded Nick Foles, a former Pro Bowl MVP, who had an absurd 27-2 touchdown/interception stat line in 2013, and was on the final year of his rookie deal, plus a second and fourth round pick, for the oft-injured and under achieving Sam Bradford and a fifth rounder. And he traded McCoy, a 26 year old running back, with three Pro Bowls, two first-team All-Pro honors, and who has the third most rushing yards in the league since he was drafted by the Eagles in 2009, for third year linebacker Kiko Alonso, who was productive in his rookie season, but missed all of last year with a torn acl.
No one doubts the talent that Alonso or Murray bring to the table. Even Bradford was once considered a prodigel talent. The question is whether they can stay healthy. If they can, perhaps Chip Kelly will be vindicated by these moves. If they cannot, it could spell for a long season for the Eagles and Eagles fans.
