For most of the offseason there were reports floating around that the Bills planned to cut or trade LeSean McCoy and with just eight days to go until the start of the regular season, Buffalo finally made a decision on what to do with the veteran running back.
According to ESPN.com, the team has decided to part ways with McCoy in a move that's somewhat surprising, but only because of the timing.
After making it through the preseason in Buffalo, it appeared that McCoy was going to stick on the Bills roster despite the fact that he was scheduled to a lot of money ($6.175 million in 2019). As a matter of fact, after the Bills' third preseason game, coach Sean McDermott actually seemed somewhat excited about the possibility of going into the season with both McCoy and Frank Gore.
"These are unique situations where you are able to have two running backs like we do, with their ability and the amount of football that they have seen," McDermott said. "Those two guys, Frank and LeSean, have been truly consummate pros as they've handled it. I think you've seen some of the results of it the other night -- the way we are able to run the ball and run the ball effectively."
You can hear more about the first string of roster cuts from Friday on this bonus edition of the Pick Six Podcast:
It seems McCoy was surprised by the Bills decision to release him. According to Pro Football Talk, McCoy's camp felt that the move came out of "left field."
The 31-year-old likely felt safe after hearing Bills general manager Brandon Beane give him a glowing review as recently as last month.
"I think LeSean still can play. If not, we would have made the decision to move on," Beane said in mid-July. "I definitely think he's got enough left in the tank to help us in 2019."
The decision to cut McCoy likely came down to two things: Money and the fact the Bills have a crowded running back room. On the financial end, the Bills will pick up $6.175 million in cap space with the release of McCoy. Paying McCoy more than $6 million just didn't make any sense considering he barely rushed for over 500 yards last season (514).
As for the running back room, the Bills signed T.J. Yeldon in March and drafted Devin Singletary in April, which made McCoy expendable.
The good news for McCoy is that he likely won't be out of a job for long. The Texans are in the market for a running back and McCoy is arguably the best free agent available heading into the regular season. It also wouldn't be surprising if the Chargers, Buccaneers or Jets were to give McCoy a call.
