By signing DeMarco Murray to a hefty contract on Thursday, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly proved his decision to trade LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills had very little to do with money.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Murray’s deal with the Eagles is expected to be worth $42 million over five years. It includes $21 million in guaranteed money. After McCoy was traded to Buffalo, he signed a five-year, $40.5 million contract with $26 million guaranteed.
That means the two deals are essentially the same in terms of average annual value. Murray, who has a more frightening injury history than McCoy, is guaranteed slightly less money. But overall, it’s obvious Kelly and company’s decision to trade McCoy had nothing to do with freeing up salary cap space for other positions.
In all likelihood, Kelly prefers Murray’s style of rushing to McCoy’s. Murray is a bruiser who runs behind his blockers and explodes through the hole. McCoy is more of an east-west rusher who tries to create his own space. In Kelly’s fast-paced offense, less dancing around the line of scrimmage — which in turn leads to less negative plays — is better. That’s why McCoy seemingly wore out his welcome with Kelly last season, particularly in the red zone.
While we have no idea if it will work, it has become evident that Kelly has a very specific plan in mind for how he wants his team to be comprised. He reportedly went hard after Sam Bradford and loves his style of play, though some still believe Kelly is positioning himself to trade up in the draft for Marcus Mariota. Given what he told reporters about Bradford on Wednesday, Kelly wants us to believe he plans to reacquaint both of his former Oklahoma stars in 2015.
