Rex Ryan says LeSean McCoy trade to Bills took only ’30 minutes’ to complete

CBS Sports

The Buffalo Bills pulled off the most surprising trade of an incredibly busy NFL offseason making a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. Chip Kelly’s Eagles traded three-time Pro Bowler LeSean McCoy to the Bills in exchange for linebacker Kiko Alonso.

The deal was lopsided to say the least with Alonso missing all of last season with a torn ACL while McCoy is still considered one of the best running backs in the NFL. Kelly chose to make the trade regardless and it apparently didn’t take much convincing to pull the trigger to send McCoy to Buffalo.

According to Mike Rodak of ESPN, new Bills head coach Rex Ryan say the deal to land McCoy was completed incredibly fast:

“The trade for LeSean happened really quick,” Ryan said at the NFL owners meetings. “We were all sitting there. We were having organizational meetings. … And all of the sudden we get this call from Philadelphia and I think that was when the trade started. Probably 30 minutes later, the trade was done.”

Obviously, with the trade only taking 30 minutes to come to fruition, the Eagles were determined to move on without McCoy. The surprising part about this deal is the lack of a return for Philadelphia. The Eagles have been rumored to be targeting Oregon product Marcus Mariota in the upcoming 2015 NFL draft with the team recently trading quarterback Nick Foles to the St. Louis Rams.

Although Philadelphia received Sam Bradford in return for Foles, it seems like the team isn’t sold on making him the starter and may not have him in their long-term plans. Bradford’s injury history is a major issue and it would bee safe to assume the team could’ve acquired a top pick in the draft to make a play for Mariota.

Fortunately for the Eagles, the team was able to sign veteran running back DeMarco Murray formerly of the division rival Dallas Cowboys. This move helps secure the running game as well as the addition of Ryan Matthews and return of Darren Sproles.