Bills trade for LeSean McCoy + Matt Cassel

[ausbacker]

No way. Lets see who has the bigger impact between kiko or lesean who has had a bigger workload.

As good as McCoy is, it's incredibly important to have a foundation caliber MLB. More often than not, a great D starts with a great MLB. Alonso has that potential. When you couple in the amount of talented RBs available in the draft and the cap space this affords the Eagles, it's a great move.

 

[Patriots1364life]

The bills have always played us tough even before rexy got there. I just hope we bring our core guys back.

 

[patsfan-1982]

The iggles could go after vereen as well. This move makes no sense for the bills. You had spiller there as well.

C.J. Spiller is older has a bit of a injury history and has never been as good of a RB as McCoy plus spiller is a FA as well so they would still have to pay him

 

[50-yard-line]

Well, the Bills are going to be tough, I agree, but given that I expect them to leap on a chance to sign Revis if he hits the market, seeing them hit with an 11.9 million cap hit from McCoy, I like. The Bills are dropping nearly 30 million on two players: McCoy and Mario Williams.

And I'd rather have Kiko and Spiller than just Shady.

 

[Deus Irae]

Bills 2015 opponents:

Home: Miami, New England, NY Jets, Houston, Indianapolis, Dallas, NY Giants, Cincinnati
Away: Miami, New England, NY Jets, Tennessee, Philadelphia, Washington, Kansas City
London: Jacksonville

Are people figuring out why a Rex Ryan team would want a top flight RB yet, or are you still too busy bashing the move just because it wasn't a Patriots move?

 

[BradyFTW!]

Bills 2015 opponents:

Home: Miami, New England, NY Jets, Houston, Indianapolis, Dallas, NY Giants, Cincinnati
Away: Miami, New England, NY Jets, Tennessee, Philadelphia, Washington, Kansas City
London: Jacksonville

Are people figuring out why a Rex Ryan team would want a top flight RB yet, or are you still too busy bashing the move just because it wasn't a Patriots move?

It has nothing to do with bashing it just because it wasn't a Patriots move. It's a bad move in its own right, regardless of who makes it.

When the Colts traded a 1st for Trent Richardson, I was one of the few people calling it out as a dumb move. The reasons were clear and self-evident for anyone who could look past the guy's name and notice the underlying problems that it created. This trade is somewhat similar. McCoy is a good player, but he isn't that good. Alonso alone will be more valuable than McCoy over the next 3 years, and that's without factoring in the opportunity cost that's inherent in paying a RB $8-10M per year. There's a reason why nobody does that anymore.

McCoy had one really, really good year that, as more time passes, looks increasingly like an outlier. He was playing behind an elite OL that didn't have a single starter miss a single game due to injury, all in year 1 of the Chip Kelly experiment. That OL isn't coming with him, the offensive creativity isn't coming with him, and the health luck isn't coming with him either.

As a Pats fan, the only thing I don't like about this trade is how much cap room it leaves Philly with, knowing that priority #1 is fixing their dumpster fire of a secondary. I could easily see them making strong pushes for both Revis and McCourty.

 

[Patriots1364life]

Deus this is still a passing league. Kiko is great in coverage as well. McCoy might get over 1000 yards but I feel this wont be fun.

 

[hwc]

The Bills have a neophyte owner who is mesmerized by "the big splash". Trading away years of top picks for Sammy Wadkins. Trading for an $11 million "marquee" back. These guys are all the same. What they know about football comes from watching idiots on SportsCenter.

 

[ausbacker]

Bills 2015 opponents:

Home: Miami, New England, NY Jets, Houston, Indianapolis, Dallas, NY Giants, Cincinnati
Away: Miami, New England, NY Jets, Tennessee, Philadelphia, Washington, Kansas City
London: Jacksonville

Are people figuring out why a Rex Ryan team would want a top flight RB yet, or are you still too busy bashing the move just because it wasn't a Patriots move?

I think it was a better move for the Eagles than the Bills. That said, McCoy is a better player than Spiller mainly because Spiller can't stay on the track.

McCoy and Jackson is a nice 1-2 punch but the Bills would want to bring in David Harris. Spikes, as we know, isn't much.

 

[patsinthesnow]

I would be pissed if we traded 24 year old Mayo on his rookie contract for MJD or Frank Gore in 2010, but that's just me.

 

[JMC00]

or are you still too busy bashing the move just because it wasn't a Patriots move?

Felger is that you?

 

[chasa]

I fully expect the bills to bring in pollard now and have him play mlb just to hurt patriot players

 

[TheBeers]

A couple* thoughts..

The Bills are already tough, this probably makes them better this year. They still need a QB who is at least average.

McCoy is still good, but who knows how good he will be this year. He didn't look great last year probably due to multiple reasons. He's also very expensive, high salaries for the next 3 seasons.

Alonso had a great rookie year in 13' and missed last season with an ACL tear. So there is some risk involved, but he's also very cheap and locked up for the next 2 years.

Seems good for the Bills this year but in a kinda desperate way. They are still a wild card contending team.. which is great for them right? Not a great decision for long term team building in my opinion though. But this is Rex Ryan's team so that's not surprising.

I like the move for the Eagles. They free up cap space and can plug in Sproles and whoever else and be fine (kinda like the Pats). Plus if Alonso recovers fully and continues where he left off, Eagles end up with a very good LB.

Mostly though I just love seeing big trades like this in the offseason!

*okay more than a couple

 

[farn]

Why is there anything wrong with stating the obvious, that the Bills are going to be the Patriots toughest division opponent this year? No one's saying they're going to win five Super Bowls in four years. They could go 8-8 and still be a brutal opponent, with a coach who plays BB well, and a team well-equipped to his schemes (the tough D and the flinestone O).

Thank you Wrath. Looks like Wrath, Deus, and I are saying the Bills are going to be tough. I don't think any of us are declaring Buffalo the new AFCE powerhouse, set to dominate until 2020...

Division games are tough. Which is why even a team as dominant as NE has been within its division rarely wins all six games. Now that Rex, who's had success in the past, has an excellent D and weapons on O, I see the Bills being a tough opponent.

 

[Tunescribe]

I for one am not laughing about the Bills. They have no QB, but Rex has given us fits with no QB before. Even in wins, NE was squeaking by the Ryan-led NYJ and I think there are plenty of playmakers (especially on D) in Buffalo.

Division wins are precious, but often quite difficult. I think NE is clearly the class of the AFCE, but the Bills will be a very tough out.

Division foes should be EXPECTED to be a tough out. As long as the Pats go at least 4-2 vs. the AFCE they'll be fine.

 

[Patriots1364life]

Which is why its important to keep our players somehow. As long as we have TB its alll good but our defense cant be decimated.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Has been said before, but I think the smartest thing the Bills could do now is get Hoyer up there.

Ian, can we ban this guy for suggesting a move that could really hurt our Patriots?

 

[Rob0729]

I don't recall Ryan needing a quality QB in order to get to back-to-back AFCCGs in 2009-2010, do you?

The Jets backed into the playoffs one of those years. Yes, they got hot in the playoffs, but they had no business being in the playoffs in 2009. They should have been 7-9 or 8-8.

 

[Deus Irae]

Deus this is still a passing league. Kiko is great in coverage as well. McCoy might get over 1000 yards but I feel this wont be fun.

Alonzo played 0 snaps for the Bills last year. The Bills defense still managed to finish 4th in both yards allowed and points allowed.

On the other hand, Spiller's gone and Jackson's old. Ryan likes to run the ball, and Roman's coming over from a run first offense with Frank Gore and the 49ers. The Bills traded a guy they didn't even use last year for one of the best RBs in the game.

If you want to say that you think Philly got the better end of the deal, that's at least debatable. But saying the deal made no sense for the Bills is crazy talk.

 

[BelichickFan]

or are you still too busy bashing the move just because it wasn't a Patriots move?

Yeah, I bet everyone here would have loved a Jamie Collins for McCoy trade