Will Darren Sproles retire from the Philadelphia Eagles?

After this season, Darren Sproles officially plans on hanging up his cleats.

This past Sunday, the NFL world has received some important news. Philadelphia Eagles running back Darren Sproles announced that he would retire after the 2018 season. So it’s not exactly shocking that Sproles is ready to hang up his cleats. After all, 2017 was supposed to be his last season. But due to the unfortunate injury that he suffered early on, Sproles decided that he couldn’t go out with a torn ACL.

Thanks to Sproles’ daughter, Devyn, he will return to the field once again after he was convinced to play another season. Not only was it exciting to see Sproles get healthy again, but it was awesome to see that the Eagles were willing to shell out some money to bring him back for his final season.

Now, this raises the big question: Which jersey will Sproles retire in? Obviously, he has three options. The first one being the team that drafted him back in 2005, the San Diego Chargers (now L.A.) Or, he could take it back to the New Orleans Saints where he signed after spending six seasons in San Diego. Nobody probably expects him to hang it up in an Eagles jersey, but anybody who rules it out should undoubtedly second-guess themselves.

A little history:

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Normally, a player will retire from the team that brought him in. Being that Sproles was a fourth-round pick who was clearly undersized, his feelings towards the Chargers must be sentimental since they took a chance on him. Although Sproles’ talent on the field was often unmatched, sometimes teams just didn’t know how to use him.

Eventually, the Chargers didn’t need Sproles for much other than his services on special teams. That’s when he took his talents to New Orleans. Once again, Sproles’ dominated when called upon. But once he started aging, the Saints looked towards a new direction and sent Sproles over to the Eagles for a fifth-round pick. With that steal of a deal, the Eagles would get perhaps their most reliable offensive weapon during the Chip Kelly era.

Unfortunately, Sproles didn’t see much team success during his first three seasons in Philadelphia. Looking at it from a personal standpoint, though, Sproles has quickly embedded himself as a Philadelphia fan favorite. It all started with his 49-yard touchdown rush in his first game in the Eagles backfield that kickstarted a comeback win at home. So while he may consider other options after 2018, could he actually choose to avoid the one-day contract route and officially wrap things up with the Eagles?

Sproles in midnight green forever?

This year will be the season that will determine which teams Sproles ends his successful career on. Now, we know he is definitely going to play for the Eagles (they wouldn’t actually cut him, right?) But it would be slightly rough to see Sproles end his career by signing a one-day deal with the Chargers or the Saints.

While the Eagles clearly got him beyond his glory days, he was still wildly successful with the birds. Not to mention, their loyalty towards him has been enormous. Usually, a low-budgeted team would avoid re-signing a 35-year-old running back coming off of a torn ACL at all costs. But not the Philadelphia Eagles. And honestly, don’t be surprised to see the Eagles continue to lean on Sproles in certain situations this year. They know he is coming back with a vengeance and they are going to take advantage of it.

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Finally, why would Sproles want to retire from the Chargers when they aren’t even in his home in San Diego anymore? We all know that he stayed put where he started his pro career, but the team eventually left off to Los Angeles over the last year. Now, we won’t be mad if Sproles retires elsewhere, but we do really think that he should consider hanging it all up with the Eagles. No matter what happens, though, we will always appreciate the services of Darren Sproles.

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