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NFL stays busy in offseason

Major League Baseball is in the middle of spring training.

The NCAA tournament and all its madness has begun.

The NHL and the NBA are in the heart of their seasons.

So, what has dominated sports news?

The NFL of course.

And for good reason. The nation’s most popular sport (by a football field) has had an unprecedented amount of player movement since the new league year began last week.

Not just a few big moves scattered across the landscape with a slew of minor ones thrown in, but major, jaw-dropping, they-did-what? transactions.

Even Tim Tebow is getting in on the act.

Here is my look at some of the most intriguing goings-on in free agency and in the trade frenzy that happened in the NFL over the last two weeks:

Those wacky Philadelphia Eagles.

There is no doubt that Chip Kelly is completely in charge of the Eagles ship.

The only question now is what in the name of Vai Sikahema is he doing? He trades quarterback Nick Foles to the Rams for brittle Sam Bradford, ships running back LeSean McCoy to the Bills for Kiko Alonso and then turns around and signs running backs DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews.

Oh, and he brought in Tebow for a tryout.

At least he’s not boring.

Bills going all-in.

As a long-suffering Bills fan, I know all of these moves are going to blow up in Rex Ryan and the organization’s face. I just know it.

Nothing good ever happens in Buffalo.

But at least the Bills brass is trying. McCoy and hybrid Percy Harvin have been added to an already fast and dangerous arsenal of skill players.

Of course, Matt Cassel is the 12 billionth answer at quarterback since Jim Kelly retired. Cassel is Kyle Orton, sans neck beard.

The division is tough, so even all of those moves may not equate to more than nine wins.

Big Ben stays put.

The Steelers gave quarterback Ben Roethlisberger a lot of money to stick around. They had to do that.

They are also purging all the long-in-the-tooth players on defense.

Troy Polamalu’s hair has flapped in the strong Pittsburgh winter wind for the last time.

Cowboys choose moody Dez Bryant over the NFL’s leading rusher.

What does it say about where the NFL is going (and probably already is) when a team decides to keep a trouble-making wide receiver over a back who rushed for more than 1,800 yards?

Answer: running backs are a dime a dozen.

The end of the Saints?

Probably.

Drew Brees isn’t getting any younger and the team jettisoned its best offensive weapon in tight end Jimmy Graham to the Seahawks for a first-round pick and a center.

There are some softly spoken rumors that maybe if the price is right that perhaps Brees might be moved ... if the price is right.

Hear that, Rex? Hear that, Bills? Why not really go all in?

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.

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