Philadelphia Eagles: A LeSean McCoy reunion is more about the fans

A Philadelphia Eagles-LeSean McCoy reunion is the ultimate morale booster.

If the Philadelphia Eagles don’t add another body to their current stable of running backs, they will be just fine entering the 2020 NFL season.

Sure, we the fans, media, and educated football masses of the greater Philadelphia area love a good tailback to a slightly unhealthy degree, but only because we care. Running backs win games, regardless of what statistical analysis will tell you, and having a great one could be the difference between an early offseason and a long, fruitful playoff berth potentially even ending in another parade down Broad Street.

Alright, technically, the Philadelphia Eagles won their lone Super Bowl on the ‘backs’ of a platoon running attack without a single 20 attempts per game rusher, but hey, don’t let facts get in the way of a good story.

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So needless to say, even though the Eagles already have one of the better young running backs in the NFL in Miles Sanders, an intriguing change of pace option in Boston Scott, and the ever-reliable (when healthy) Corey Clement soaking up any carries left on the bone, why not add another big named back to round out the rotation and guarantee success even if the injury bug strikes yet again?

Seems rather logical, right?

Well, if you believe a rather cryptic tweet from perimeter cornerback-turned-strong safety Jalen Mills, the Eagles very well may have fresh reinforcement inbound in the form of an old friend whose jersey still gets plenty of play in the parking lot of the Linc: LeSean McCoy.

That’s right, on the very same day McCoy publically mentioned that ‘a couple teams’ have shown interest in his services in 2020 and that he’d like to pass the 12,000 mark before his rushing days are in the rearview – he’s currently 929 yards away from that lofty goal – Mills asked the Eagles rusher a simple question straight up: “@CutonDime25 Heard you tryna win another championship”.

Oh Jalen, I don’t think you quite understand what you just did.

As soon as the tweet went live, it rapidly sparked the same lively debate among fans of the Eagles as to whether 1. McCoy is washed 2. If McCoy has a spot on the team, and 3. Would the Eagles actually re-sign their all-time leading rusher?

Is there a right answer to any of those questions? Obviously not, not at least until it happens anyway, but that’s sort of missing the point. If the Eagles do cave to peer pressure, real or not, and sign McCoy to what could be his final NFL contract, it will be for the fans.

I mean think about it, 2020 has been pretty much the worst, right? A promising Flyers season got prematurely suspended, a… promising Sixers season also got prematurely suspended, and the Phillies are (probably) going to lose their opening night game against the Marlins (Update: They lost). While the addition of McCoy does make some sense if Philly wants to avoid overworking Sanders in his first chance to be an unquestioned lead back as a pro, it’s far from a necessity. McCoy and Sanders have a very similar running style and while that would allow Doug Pederson to interchange the two as needed, it also limits the expansive optionality presented by folding a power back like Carlos Hyde into the fray.

What re-signing McCoy does guarantee, however, is jersey sales, excitement among the fanbase, articles on the topic (sorry), and most importantly of all, a chance for the Harrisburg native to snag a few more franchise records before riding off into the sunset with his jersey hanging in the rafters of Lincoln Financial Field.

Though it’s been five years and counting since Chip Kelly erroneously traded McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for some Oregon linebacker, it felt like yesterday McCoy was breaking ankles and taking names in a midnight green jersey, with very little love lost for the former home-state hero.

Sidebar: Whatever happened to Kiko Alonso? He looked like an all-timer during his rookie season in Buffalo and then… nothing. That 2014 ACL injury must have caused some serious damage.

As things presently stand, McCoy is four rushes shy of Wilbert Montgomery for the Birds’ all-time career attempts record – four. While every other record in the Eagles books is either out of McCoy’s reach or already owned by the 32-year-old from his first tenure with the team, that one last career-spanning achievement is so close it’s almost embarrassing. Even if McCoy somehow sits out the entire season, the Eagles could knock that one out in a single afternoon in what, three minutes? I mean it’s almost too easy.

If McCoy is willing to take on a part-time, supplemental role as the Bird’ second-string runner, a role he often played for Andy Reid in KC last fall, I can’t see too much of a reason for Howie Roseman to turn it down outright – I mean, it’s not like he wants $8-10 million.

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Are there really a couple of teams interested in the 32-year-old running backs’ services, or is LeSean McCoy pulling the oldest trick in the book and attempting to generate buzz by pitting one hypothetical team against another? Only time will tell, but if the Philadelphia Eagles are in fact interested in bringing their former second-round pick home for one last romp through the NFC East, it will generate more goodwill than seemingly any other late-July, early-August signing a team could ask for.

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