Philadelphia Eagles resign Darren Sproles for the 2018 season

After failing to draft a running back in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles have re-signed Darren Sproles for one final season in midnight green.

With the 2018 NFL Draft in the rearview mirror and UDFA watch now in full swing, the Philadelphia Eagles just added another playmaker to their already dynamic offense, and needless to say, he’s a pretty popular player in the City of Brotherly Love.

That’s right, after failing to draw much interest in free agency over the 2018 NFL calendar year, Darren Sproles will don the number 43 for one final campaign in South Philly, before riding his professional football career off into the sunset.

A three time-Pro Bowler with an outside shot of making the Hall of Fame as one of the most prolific all-purpose yards earners in NFL history, Sproles’ 2017 season ended in heartbreaking fashion, with the 13-year veteran suffering a torn ACL and broken arm in the Eagles Week 3 win over the New York Giants.

While Sproles had talked about potentially retiring from the game after the 2017 season, the competitor in him simply couldn’t go out on an incomplete season, even if it earned him his first Super Bowl ring, and as early as December of last year the soon to be 35-year-old rusher expressed interests in returning to the game for another season in South Philly.

And it appears as though Howie Roseman has honored that request.

Without a legitimate pass-catching running back on the roster, Sproles will likely step in as the bird’s third-down back from day one and log a dozen or so snaps a game as an alternative to lead back Jay Ajayi and his change-of-pace foil Corey Clement.

Though the Eagles do still have 2017 fourth round pick Donnel Pumphrey under contract for the 2018 season, his ability to step in and fill Sproles shoes after his own injury-shortened season appeared shaky at best, with the team obviously erring on the side of caution by bringing back an all-time great just to be safe.

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While it’s unclear how much the team will ask him to do when he returns to the field one year removed from a potentially career-ending injury, both as an offensive weapon and as a return man, it’s nice to have Darren Sproles back in town as the Philadelphia Eagles attempt to defend their title as world champions.

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