Well, you knew that this was coming. Did you hear that there’s some talk about LeSean McCoy rejoining the Philadelphia Eagles?
It happens every single offseason. There’s no point in you acting as though you’re upset because you’ve heard it again. Once again, another former member of the Philadelphia Eagles hears his name mentioned in a statement about a possible reunion with the team that launched him to stardom and made him so beloved in the city where his professional career began.
Recently, on an episode of the NFL Network’s NFL NOW, Mike Garafolo sent shockwaves through the ‘City of Brotherly Love’ and through every other city where other Eagles fans reside as he mentioned that he “would not discount the possibility of him (McCoy) returning to the Eagles” in 2020.
Though things didn’t end on the best of notes (thanks Chip Kelly), McCoy never lost his love for the Eagles organization, nor did the organization and its fans lose their love for him. Kelly traded “Shady” on March 10th of 2015 to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for the linebacker Kiko Alonso (the ‘Birds’ sure lost out on that deal).
His 6,792 rushing yards are still a franchise record, but any talk about his return probably needs to be silenced immediately before Eagles executive vice president and general manager Howie Roseman starts feeling nostalgic. We all know Howie gets attached to guys, but this is one of those things that even he has to see as a bad idea. Here’s why.
1. He was deactivated in the Super Bowl.
Let’s be frank. The only reason that LeSean McCoy was added to the Kansas City Chiefs roster was because of his relationship with Andy Reid. The Buffalo Bills had decided to move on. The market for his services wasn’t exactly booming. He was already past his 30th birthday, which is sometimes viewed as the death sentence for NFL running backs.
Andy Reid decided to give his former pupil a shot, and from a numbers sense, things didn’t go half bad. Playing primarily in a reserve role for the first time in his career, McCoy toted the rock 101 times for 465 yards and four touchdowns. He even broke a 39 yarder once.
He also chipped in with 28 receptions for 181 yards and another trip to paydirt. At times, he looked good, but let’s face it. He wasn’t the same guy who popped out of the Eagles backfield early and often to make plays, and as the season went on, Reid and company relied more on the younger horses to lead them to the finish line.
McCoy was a healthy scratch for the Super Bowl, and that alone should tell you everything that you need to know. If Reid felt like ’25’ would have helped the Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers, he would have been out there, and if nostalgia wasn’t a good enough reason for ‘Big Red’ to have ‘Shady’ suit up for the biggest game in all of the professional sports, isn’t it fair to state that asking him for one more run at 32 (his birthday is on July 12th) is a bit much?
If Philly didn’t learn anything else from re-signing Darren Sproles twice, they should have learned that.
2. He plays football’s most punishing position.
For the football star, 30 isn’t the new 20. It’s the same old 30, and if you play one of the most violent games known to man, it’s easy to argue that some of those 30-year-old bodies might feel like they’re chronologically 40-years old in a few areas.
Smaller men weren’t meant to be hammered by six-foot-four men in pads who can bench press 225 pounds 15 to 20 times and run the 40-yard dash in less than five seconds.
LeSean McCoy carried the football 1,461 times over a six-year stretch in an Eagles jersey. That’s a lot of hits on a five-foot-eleven and 210-pound frame. Then he went to Buffalo. He toted the rock another 885 times in for years before his 101 carries in 2019 gave him 2,447 rushing attempts for his career.
That’s a ton of work, and ‘Shady’ clearly doesn’t have the same spring in his step that he once did.
There’s a reason why every season, we’re asking if it’s worth drafting running backs early or giving them long deals for a lot of money. Physically, it’s the most punishing position in the NFL. From a financial standpoint, it’s hard to argue why a team would splurge on the aging veteran who’s on the decline when so many newer models at the position are available.
That brings us all to another point.
3. The guys that are already here are good enough.
If you think about it, Miles Sanders may be the second coming of McCoy. He’s coming off of a solid rookie campaign. He has all of the tools you’d like in a runner, and though there are differences between McCoy’s game and that of Sanders’, if there’s anyone who can eclipse McCoy’s team rushing record, it’s the new guy.
Boston Scott is here as well. He looks like the next Darren Sproles, or that’s at least what ‘Birds’ fans are hoping for. Situations like the Eagles were in during the 2017-2018 season with LeGarrette Blount aren’t common. Guys in the twilight of their careers normally don’t turn it on like that in their later years.
Sure, Blount was only here for a single season, and he’s captured the hearts of Philly’s fans forever. Still, he’s the exception to the rule. Normally, when you bring back old guys or guys whose bodies are breaking down, you get what the ‘Birds’ and their fans got from Jay Ajayi in 2019. Ajayi had nothing left to give, and that became evident early.
If they bring anyone back at that position, it probably needs to be Jordan Howard or some sort of consistent sledgehammer, but even in Howard, there are questions to be answered. Did you see how long he sat out with a ‘stinger’? There will be other options in free agency. Whether Philly brings Howard back or they let him walk is a question mark, but here are two things that shouldn’t be.
One, no one should forget what LeSean McCoy’s six seasons did for this team and city, but here’s that second point. No one should be beating the drum for his return either. There needs to be some fine-tuning and a slight overhaul to Philly’s rushing attack. They need some guys outside of Sanders and Scott to give those guys a breather.