By Kyle Silagyi / Billswire.usatoday.com
The Buffalo Bills have no intention of trading running back LeSean McCoy.
If you want proof of that sentiment, all you have to do to ask the man himself. That’s because according to McCoy, there were at least two two teams interested in landing him via trade with the Bills and he’s still in Buffalo.
“I’ve seen [the trade rumors],” McCoy told the media after Tuesday’s practice session at St. John Fisher College. “For the last two years, people have been saying that. If that was the case, I would’ve been gone. Two teams were trying to get me.”
Many have questioned McCoy’s security in Buffalo given his age, harsh cap hit, and recent lack of production. The 31-year-old is coming off a 2018 season in which he rushed for a career-low 514 yards. He also has a cap hit of $9.05 million, accounting for nearly five percent of the team’s player payroll.
That’s not ideal for an aging running back who’s coming off his worst season as a professional.
The Bills added more bodies to their running back room in the offseason, signing Frank Gore and T.J. Yeldon in free agency before selecting FAU ball carrier Devin Singletary in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Even with the influx of running backs, McCoy is confident that he’ll be the lead horse in Buffalo’s backfield in the 2019 NFL season. As the six-time Pro Bowler implied – if the Bills were going to trade him, they would’ve done so by now.
“We’re all competing, making each other better each day,” McCoy said. “I’m the guy, I feel like that. That’s what I’ve been told and that’s my everyday approach. We’re all a team and we’re trying to help each other out to win games and compete against each other to make each other better.”
Though confident that he’ll be the one lining up behind quarterback Josh Allen for the majority of the snaps in the regular season, McCoy did admit that his eleventh training camp is unlike any he’s experienced before. Competition and murmurs about his game have added a bit of extra motivation to his mindset.
“I think this year might be a little different,” McCoy said. “There are so many whispers about this and that, about myself, about my game. I think this camp is a little different.”
McCoy is heading into waters previously uncharted by the two-time All-Pro. Once looked at as one of the best running backs in the game of football, analysts are now questioning McCoy’s ability, whether or not there’s any tread left on his tire.
Though he’s eager to have a bounce-back year statistically, the number at the front of Buffalo’s record is what McCoy is most concerned with.
“The main goal is just winning games,” McCoy said. “Winning games and being productive. Making every snap, every play, every rep count. Once you do that, the good things, the stats, they come along with it. That’s something I’ve learned.
“The first goal is to just commit every rep, [make] every play count, work hard and win games. The other stuff, the stats, they’ll follow.”