Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly just got another interesting chess piece for his fascinating offensive concepts.

On Thursday morning, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the New Orleans Saints traded running back Darren Sproles to the Eagles for a fifth-round draft pick. The move takes Sproles’ $3.4 million base salary and $100,000 workout bonus off the books as the Saints try all sorts of things to free up salary cap space, but it leaves Drew Brees without an intriguing and versatile target.

It’s a perfect fit for Kelly’s high-paced and atypical offense, because Sproles is anything but your garden-variety running back. Selected in the fourth round of the 2005 draft by the San Diego Chargers out of Kansas State, Sproles really came into focus when he signed a four-year, $14 million contract with New Orleans in July 2011 and became Reggie Bush’s replacement as Sean Payton’s satellite back.

“Darren Sproles is an unbelievable offensive weapon,” Kelly said in a statement. “He can do it all, run, catch, plus he’s a proven winner. And on top of that, he can bring all of those dynamic skills to the return game as well. There is no question we were all excited once we found out we were going to be able to trade for him.”

Over the last three seasons, Sproles has ranked first in targets, receptions (232), receiving yards (1,981) and receiving touchdowns (16) among NFL running backs. In 20.