Philadelphia Eagles: Two former players sign with NFC contenders

Two former Philadelphia Eagles have signed with NFC teams expected to contend in 2020.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, former Philadelphia Eagles LeSean McCoy and Nigel Bradham have both signed with teams for the 2020 season. Howie Roseman had reportedly been in contact with both for the majority of the offseason, leaving some feeling a reunion was inevitable. Obviously, that is not the case anymore.

Ever since he was traded away back in the “Chip Kelly era”, rumors linking the Eagles back to their beloved former franchise running back have popped up pretty much every year. ‘Shady” almost always fuels the fire a bit too, as he’ll usually name drop the Eagles each summer as a team he’d like to play for again.

McCoy is coming off a 2020 season where he technically won a Super Bowl ring with the Kansas City Chiefs, however he did not dress for a handful of games down the stretch (including the AFC Championship and the SB) due to being a healthy scratch.

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In the weeks he did play, McCoy was largely pretty effective in the Chiefs system. He recorded 646 scrimmage yards, and averaged an impressive 4.6 yards per carry.

The Eagles were predominately being linked to McCoy due to the team’s apparent need at backup running back, seeing as after Miles Sanders there’s some genuine question marks. Boston Scott looked great in limited action last year but he’s still widely unproven, Corey Clement is coming off an injury, and Elijah Holyfield hasn’t seen a snap as an Eagle yet. Adding a veteran back could provide some serious stability to Doug Pederson’s running game.

McCoy will be joining Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, and the Buccaneers down in Tampa Bay. He’ll likely get a genuine shot at the RB1 job as he looks to add to his Super Bowl ring total.

Nigel Bradham on the other hand will be joining former Eagles teammate Malcolm Jenkins down in New Orleans, as he agreed to terms with the Saints on a one-year deal. Bradham has been a staple in the Eagles defense the last four seasons, starting in 58 total games for the team during the time, primarily as the team’s LB1.

Bradham played a crucial role during the team’s Super Bowl run in 2017, however it’s been clear for awhile now that he’s been starting to slow down (turns 31 in September). Bradham had a $10 million team option for the 2020 season, an option that the Eagles declined to pick up due to their future cap space issues.

Rumors of Bradham and the Eagles reuniting on a smaller contract were swirling around as recently as a few days ago, with a lot of emphasis being put on Philly’s extremely weak linebacker group. With Bradham now off to the NFC South, guys like Nate Gerry and TJ Edwards will face extreme pressure to perform in 2020.

Both the Buccaneers and the Saints are expected to be in the Super Bowl bubble for 2020, and both just got slightly better with their respective free agent acquisitions. While it may seem like the Eagles “lost” out on these two, they had months to approach them for a deal. If Howie really wanted either of them, he would’ve locked them up back in April.