One of the most impressive accomplishments of the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles is how quickly they’ve rebounded from the disastrous 2015, when Chip Kelly took full control of personnel and ran the roster into the ground. After Kelly was fired, Howie Roseman took the reins and has done admirable work rebuilding the Eagles.
Roseman practiced addition by subtraction in getting rid of many of Kelly’s favorite players, including DeMarco Murray, Ryan Matthews, Jordan Matthews, Sam Bradford and Byron Maxwell, flipping many of them in trades that yielded draft picks and better players.
One change Roseman could not make, however, was reversing the trade of running back LeSean McCoy for Kiko Alonso, one of Kelly’s favorite players dating back to their time at Oregon together. But Roseman tried to bring McCoy back: According to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, Roseman contacted the Bills with a trade offer for McCoy, but the Bills turned him down.
The Eagles’ running back has played well with the other running backs Roseman acquired, including LeGarrette Blount, Wendall Smallwood, Corey Clement and the newest arrival, Jay Ajayi. But McCoy would add another element to the offense -- an element Roseman still regrets losing.