Post Season Shakeups Getting More and More Interesting

Buffalo Bound: LeSean McCoy will head north to play football in 2015
(Google Images)

The offseason in the NFL often leads to a lot of new faces in a lot of new places when the new season kicks off and 2015 has been no exception. There have already been some interesting moves and once the new league year and free agency both begin on March 10th at 4 pm there are going to be a few more.

One of the biggest and most surprising moves came when the Philadelphia Eagles decided to trade LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills. The Eagles star running back inked a five-year, $40 million deal, with $26.5 million guaranteed. In exchange, Philly will get linebacker Kiko Alonso. This deal was a bit surprising because McCoy was nothing short of spectacular in his time with the Eagles. Since being drafted by Philadelphia in 2009, he has the NFL's third-most rushing yards (6,792) and fourth-most rushing touchdowns (44). Last season, he ended the year with 1,319 rushing yards. That was good for third-most in the NFL.

Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh will be walking around the Miami Dolphins locker room Tuesday saying, in the words of Johnny Cash, "My name is Suh. How do you do." Except, unlike these classic Cash lyrics, we aren't talking about a "Boy Named Sue." We're talking about a 6'4" tall, 307 lb "Beast Named Suh." And come Tuesday afternoon when he signs with the Fins, Suh will also become the highest paid defenseman in the NFL, surpassing Houston Texans defensive end and arguably the best defensive player in the league today, J.J. Watt.



Houston, we have a problem: Will Justin Houston return to
the Chiefs in 2015? (Google Images)

How much will Suh be making you might ask? Reportedly, his deal will be for six years and worth a staggering $114 million, $60 million of which is guaranteed. Detroit had offered Suh a deal worth $17 million per year and $58 million guaranteed, but Suh decided to make a couple extra bucks and head down south. By comparison, last year Watt inked a deal worth $100 million that will keep him in Houston for the next six seasons. So while it might only be a scant $14 million more than Watt's contract, Ndamukong Suh will soon become the highest paid defensive player in football.

Speaking of key defensive players, the Kansas City Chiefs defensive line has been a topic of conversation this off season. Coming off a 22-sack season, outside linebacker Justin Houston will be a hot commodity. This is why Chiefs owner Clark Hunt and general manager John Dorsey placed the franchise tag on him a few weeks ago and why everyone in Chiefs Kingdom hopes Houston will return to anchor their D-line in 2015.

However, according to Pro Football Talk, Houston is not happy with KC and intends to pursue other offers. This is a complete 180 from Houston's original intentions of signing the franchise tender and accepting the $13 million for one year of work. But now, he will supposedly entertain teams willing to trade two low first round picks to get him. If he can't get a deal done before the season begins, PFT says Houston will stay away from the Chiefs until the Week 10 deadline, after which he'll return to finish the year in a Chiefs uniform and be eligible for free agency next year.

While Houston's status might be in limbo, Chiefs fans will be excited to learn that they have worked with their other outside linebacker, Tamba Hali to restructure his contract and stay on with the squad in KC. He will take a $3 million pay cut to stay on. This team has also had major issues at wide receiver this past year. Alex Smith didn't connect with any of them for a touchdown. As a result, the Chiefs are expected to cut wideout Dwayne Bowe. Bowe has simply not earned the salary that he has been getting lately and, while there were rumors that, like Hali, Bowe might restructure his deal, Kansas City is hurting when it comes to salary cap space. So cutting Bowe, who would be good for $5 million in cap room if cut before June 1 and $11 million if cut after June 1, will free up a good deal of cash.

Clipping his wings: Nick Foles will trade the wings on his helmet for
horns when he moves to St. Louis (Google Images)

Cash that will apparently be spent on another, more proven wide receiver. It was reported on Monday that a deal to nail down wide receiver Jeremy Maclin is all but done. Maclin, who was drafted by the Eagles in 2009, will be reunited with the head coach who picked him, Andy Reid. After missing the 2013 season with a torn ACL, Maclin is coming off the best year of his career. He recorded 85 catches for 1, 318 yards and 10 touchdowns. His deal will reportedly be worth $11 million per year. By comparison, Randall Cobb took $10 million per year to stay in Green Bay. If the Chiefs again fail to score a touchdown with a wide receiver in 2015, they definitely want to show fans that it won't be because they didn't try to bolster their team at that position.

Last, but not least, the Eagles made one other blockbuster trade on Tuesday. After resigning quarterback Mark Sanchez, they decided to trade their other play caller Nick Foles to the St. Louis Rams in exchange for their QB Sam Bradford. This was surprising because of how well Foles played last year, leading his team in a tight battle for the NFC East title with the Dallas Cowboys until an injured clavicle sidelined him for the year after just seven weeks. But Bradford has also had his share of injuries. While he has been good under center for the Rams, he tore his ACL in a preseason game and missed the entire 2014 season. The year before, Bradford threw for nearly 1,700 yards, completed 14 of those passes for touchdowns and threw only four interceptions in seven weeks of the 2013 season; the best season of his career. Both Foles and Bradford have potential to be great quarterbacks, but both have some durability issues. It will be interesting to watch these two in their new environments next season.

Free agency is young and the 2015 season is off to an interesting start. While a few players have found new homes, there are a great many men whose futures are still up in the air. It will be very fun to watch and see where everyone lands once this big game of musical chairs comes to an end.