The Philadelphia Eagles were going to cut running back LeSean McCoy until they found a suitor.

Sources close to the situation confirmed that to me following the trade on Tuesday night with other independent confirmation on various details of the swap, including the fact that the Buffalo Bills were not the first team approached about taking McCoy and that the Bills were so stunned by the phone call that it took 20 total minutes from first contact until the deal was agreed upon in principal.

So many want to make this about Eagles head coach Chip Kelly acquiring another former Oregon Duck in linebacker Kiko Alonso. While he certainly wouldn’t turn up his nose at that situation, as Alonso is now the ninth former Duck on the Eagles’ roster, this trade was so much more than that.

McCoy had a great rushing total last season, but his per-rush metrics were all down from years previous. Much like Matt Forte in Chicago, this points to a back who is on the decline, but was still fed the rock. Indeed, McCoy’s 314 carries were second in the entire NFL.

Moreover, he was terrible in passing situations and was quickly passed over both there and in short yardage. Because of that, his touchdown numbers dipped, and he quickly became an afterthought in some of the Eagles’ most important moments.

This led to a rift with the coaching staff.

It certainly didn’t help that McCoy is owed over $16 million over the next two years while Alonso is still on his rookie deal. The cap space McCoy’s move creates is likely superfluous for the Eagles’ plans this offseason, but Kelly has shown he prefers building through the draft and will probably keep much of their current cap space open to remain flexible in re-signing their own players.

The Bills, meanwhile, don’t have a line nearly adept at run blocking as compared to the Eagles, nor do they have Kelly’s system which favors running back production. However, they will likely have to lean on McCoy in the red zone without a solution at the quarterback position, so his numbers will likely remain at Pro Bowl form in Buffalo—even if the Bills aren’t winning games because of it.

Saints Looking to Deal (and Maybe Ditch) Curtis Lofton

Along many of the same lines as the McCoy issues above, the New Orleans Saints are looking to deal linebacker Curtis Lofton according to NFL media’s Ian Rapoport. The Saints, who are well over the salary cap at the moment, are looking to shed big money and shed it quickly and also dumped Pierre Thomas on Wednesday.

There’s more to it than that, though.

Although Lofton still racked up a bunch of tackles in 2014, his impact on the game had dropped off steadily. He fought to get off blocks and was not a solution but rather much of the problem when it came to the Saints defensive woes.

Let’s be frank: Yes the Saints need to free up some money and yes Lofton is getting paid a lot, but there is always a way to keep players you want in the NFL. Lofton, after not living up to his cap hit last season and turning 29 next season is no longer in that camp.

Bills Get Matt Cassel and Texans Dump Chris Myers

The Buffalo Bills under Rex Ryan are starting to behave a lot like the New York Jets under Rex Ryan. With a seeming inability to properly assess or address the quarterback situation, Ryan has already acquired his first overpaid, twilight-of-his-career back in McCoy, and now he’s doubling down on mediocre backup quarterbacks.

Cassel has had his moments over the past few seasons, but those are few and far between and horribly overshadowed with the mistakes he’s made and the plays he’s left on the field.

I weep for wide receiver Sammy Watkins.

Down in Houston, the Texans dumped cash in the form of center Chris Myers. Though Myers is aging (33) and was being well compensated, he was also a valuable piece of the Texans’ line as one of the best zone blocking centers in the game. This deal makes sense, but it’s difficult to believe something couldn’t have been worked out to keep him in Houston.

Running back Arian Foster might’ve paid him himself…

If I’m newly appointed Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, I’ve already texted, instant messaged, smoke-signaled and semaphored general manager Thomas Dimitroff and head coach Dan Quinn that this guy should be on the team next season.