Philadelphia Eagles: Is there a place for LeSean McCoy in Philly in 2019?

If LeSean McCoy gets cut by the Buffalo Bills, is there a place for the Philadelphia Eagles’ all-time leading rusher on the team in 2019.

Last fall, when Howie Roseman was desperately searching for a trade deadline skirting move to vault his squad into postseason relevancy, the Philadelphia Eagles almost reunited with all-time fan favorite running back LeSean McCoy.

While the deal obviously didn’t go through, as the Buffalo Bills reportedly wanted a second and third round pick for the soon-to-be 31-year-old’s services (as per The Fanatic’s Anthony Gargano), McCoy’s future in western New York could soon be coming to an end.

After selecting Devin Singletary out of Florida Athletic in the third-round (74th overall), McCoy has found his name on quite a few post-draft cut lists, including one by ESPN. Whether it’s because of his $9.05 million cap hit versus about $2.6 million in dead money if he were to be released, or an unwillingness to accept a smaller role due to the additions of Singletary and Frank Gore, the Harrisburg native could soon be looking for a new place to (presumably) close out his NFL career.

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But could that landing spot be back in Philadelphia?

This time last year, the answer to that question would have been a resounding yes, as Philly had one of the worst rushing attacks in the league. With their top rusher, Josh Adams failing to record even 600 yards on the ground, the 2018 Eagles would have loved a seasoned back like McCoy to balance out their offensive attack and take some pressure off of Carson Wentz, and eventually Nick Foles.

However, after trading for a power rusher in Jordan Howard, and a Shady-esque one-cut back in Penn State rusher Miles Sanders, in addition to incumbent contributors Adams, Wendell Smallwood, and Corey Clement, there may no longer be a spot for the team’s all-time leading rusher.

I mean, sure, the Birds could try to trade Howard, Clement, and/or Adams to an RB-hungry team in order to free up some snaps for McCoy, but after being the guy for seven of the last eight years, would the prideful rusher really want to accept a smaller role?

Furthermore, McCoy had the worst statistical season of his career in 2018, where he only earned 514 yards and three touchdowns on 161 carries in 14 games. Sure, McCoy was a bit banged up over the campaign, but that’s obviously a bad sign for a player who’s already had over 2,821 touches as a pro.

Now granted, much like the return of DeSean Jackson, who’s held up much better than McCoy due to 2,162 (!) fewer total touches, if LeSean did come back to the City of Brotherly Love to finish out his career it would drive the fanbase nuts, and lead to thousands of old number 25 jerseys seeing the light of day once more, but would he really want to finish things out as a shell of his former glory?

That’s the $9 million question.

Next. DeSean Jackson could return to Pro Bowl form with Eagles in 2019. dark

Though it would be amazing to get LeSean McCoy back and allow him to finish out his career in midnight green before his number 25 jersey inevitably hangs from the rafters of Lincoln Financial Field, it simply may not be in the cards after the Philadelphia Eagles’ offseason of running back additions.

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