Bills Trade LB Takeo Spikes to Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles traded for Pro Bowl linebacker Takeo Spikes and quarterback Kelly Holcomb from the Buffalo Bills. In exchange for Spikes and Holcomb, the Bills received defensive tackle Darwin Walker and a conditional 2008 draft pick.

"This is something that has been brewing," Bills general manager Marv Levy said. "Takeo is a good person, but we wanted to strengthen our defensive tackle. They've been looking for a linebacker and I think they wanted an experienced backup quarterback."

Spikes, a nine-year NFL veteran, has been slow recovering from a right Achilles tendon tear that he suffered in week 3 of the 2005 NFL season. He is scheduled to make $9.5 million over the final two years of his current six-year contract.

Spikes, who played his first five seasons with the Bengals, had been seeking a contract extension with Buffalo.

Spikes is a former first round pick and is expected to be a big upgrade at linebacker for the Eagles.

"Takeo Spikes is a proven playmaker in the National Football League," Eagles general manager Tom Heckert said. "He has the ability to play all three linebacking positions and were happy to add him to our defense."

Holcomb has made 21 starts over his 11 year career. He and A.J. Feeley will play behind starter Donovan McNabb for the Eagles. Holcomb did not play last season due to the emergence of J.P. Losman. Losman's emergence is also what made Holcomb expendable.

Losman showed gradual progress last season after losing his job to Holcomb in 2005 and led the Bills to a respectable 7-9. Losman showed considerable improvement over the last half of the season, leading the Bills to four wins in their last seven games.

Losman's emergence was enough for coach Dick Jauron to name Losman the starter heading into next year. It's a big step for Losman who had to win the job from Holcomb in training camp last season.

He started 11 of his 12 games played last season. He missed four games with a hamstring injury suffered in the season opener. He finished with 76 tackles, one sack, and one forced fumble.

Walker started 15 games for the Eagles and had six sacks. Three of his sacks came in one game against Dallas on Oct. 8. He also had two sacks in their playoff loss at New Orleans.

The Bills hope to improve their defensive tackle position with the addition of Walker. The Bills went with a very young rotation at defensive tackle with the exception of veteran Larry Tripplett.

Sources:
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/03/27/ap3553827.html
http://www.mlive.com/sportsflash/topstories/index.ssf?/base/sports-17/1175036073240920.xml&storylist=