If you're gonna fire a guy, is it really dependent on who his backfill will be? "Well we were going to fire Rico, but we couldn't get McCoy so he stays." Seems like flawed logic.
Plus, McCoy and Rico overlapped in Denver in 2009. What is their text exchange like if this indeed is the case? "hey, Rico, MM here. Did you know your bosses are interviewing me for your job?"