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A star running back was traded on Tuesday in the National Football League.
No, not that one. . .another one.
The Philadelphia Eagles agreed to trade running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for linebacker Kiko Alonso in a rare (at least for the NFL) player-for-player swap with no other draft picks included.
McCoy was third in the National Football League in rushing yardage in 2014, running for 1,319 yards in Chip Kelly's offense. That came a year after he was the NFL's leading rusher with 1,607 yards.
If you want more on the trade, be sure to check out our friends at Bleeding Green Nation for the Philadelphia side of things, and Buffalo Rumblings for the Bills' viewpoint.
From the perspective of a Vikings fan, I have to wonder whether or not this deal could start setting the market for a potential Adrian Peterson trade. Yes, I know that Rick Spielman has the ability to get more than he probably should for a player, and on the surface it doesn't appear that the Eagles got a whole lot for McCoy. . .after all, Alonso missed most of last season with an injury. However, there are three important factors to keep in mind.
1) McCoy is three years younger than Peterson (he turns 27 in July), and he has almost exactly 500 fewer regular-season touches than Peterson for his career (1,761 for McCoy, 2,262 for Peterson).
2) McCoy actually played last season
3) McCoy's cap figure, as it stands now, is about $3.5 million less than Peterson's ($11.95 million for McCoy, $15.4 million for Peterson)
The Vikings brass is, reportedly, going to Houston on Wednesday to talk with Peterson, and Peterson has said that he would be willing to restructure his contract. . .to facilitate a trade. Even though, with all things being equal, the Vikings should expect more in a deal for Peterson than the Eagles should have been able to get for McCoy. . .well, whether anyone wants to admit it or not, all things aren't equal at this point.
This could be the start of a very interesting off-season for a lot of teams in the National Football League, and it's quite possible that the off-season for the Minnesota Vikings could be a lot more interesting than a lot of folks would like it to be.