Let's Pump The Brakes: The Shady For Kiko Alonso Deal Is A Great Move By The Eagles

OLD -- Smitty 3/4/2015 9:35 AM

 
First off, I’ll admit I was as taken back as anyone when this went down last night. It’s not everyday a superstar, face of the franchise offensive STUD who at just 26 is traded for a LB that spent 2013 on the IR. Shady is the Eagles all-time leading rusher who led the league in that category in 2013. Hell, he had an “off” yeah last season and still ran for 1,300+ yards while Darren Sproles sniped 30% of his snaps. Shady’s a certified beast who had over 700 touches in just 2013 and 2014 alone. Why would the Chip Kelly whip it out and piss in all of our cereals?

Let’s evaluate beginning with what we got. I didn’t know much about Kiko Alonso other than he’s a white animal (and borderline felon) out of Oregon that had a promising rookie year and got hurt in a freak accident – tearing his ACL while training alone last year. The more and more I look into this cat, the more I love what I see. If healthy (he also tore his other ACL in college, but keep in mind Jeremy Maclin was in the EXACT same situation going into last year), Alonso is as close to a Luke Kuechly as you’re going to get. This beast played every defensive snap as a rookie and had 159 tackles in 2013. In comparison, the Eagles leading tackler Mychal Kendricks had 83 tackles last season. Kiko may be a little undersized but he is an athletic, instinctual FREAK. Can you imagine having a healthy Alonso and Kendricks holding down the middle for the next 5-10 seasons? It just fucking moved and moved hard. This is a defensive city at heart and I couldn’t love it any more. Plus, his name is Kiko. That alone means he already has legendary boss material written all over him.

But in reality, this trade is all about value. By making this move they not only get a LB that very well become our Urlacher for the next decade, but it opens up cap space for multiple starters to be signed by the Birds. Think about this: In 3, 4, 5 years from now, would you rather have McCoy at around or above 30 years old, or Kiko Alonso, Byron Maxwell and 2 other solid starters? If you think about it that way, you’re either a pessimist or a Fantasy Football Mom if you believe this isn’t a great deal for the Eagles. They sold Shady at his peak and got the maximum value in return. Not to mention the RB position has been devalued greatly and this year’s draft class has the best backfield talent in the last decade. It’s not going to be THAT difficult picking up most of Shady’s slack. But granted, it’s ALL about who Chip decides to sign with this money. His big FA splashes haven’t been anything to write home about so far in his administration. Other than a couple high motor guys on Special Teams there really hasn’t been a great splash signing. Shit, Cary Williams and James Casey were highly touted when picked up and aren’t even on the team two years later. They HAVE to make the right moves with this money or, yes, this trade has potential to be wasted.

Let’s face it, the Eagles haven’t won a playoff game since 2008. Cutting some of the fat off this team and bringing in fresh meat might not be a bad idea. One thing’s for damn sure, Chip Kelly is now either going down as the greatest coach in Eagles history, or in flames. No in-between. Also, with 9 players from Eugene, this team is officially the Philadelphia Ducks. Let’s fly together, baby.
 


 
PS – Of course 90% of Philly are are blowhards that lose the forest through the trees and wouldn’t know a football if it Hans Moleman’d them in the dick. Sports radio and talk in this town is going to be UNBEARABLE until Week 1.
 

 
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