Philadelphia Eagles and Devonta Freeman really messed this one up

The Philadelphia Eagles and Devonta Freeman really goofed up.

For what felt like the longest time, a marriage between Devonta Freeman and the Philadelphia Eagles felt like a forgone conclusion.

After Freeman briefly flirted with the idea of joining with the Seattle Seahawks before they opted to instead sign Carlos Hyde – who has 57 yards on 16 carries in three games of action – the Eagles were the lone team left looking for a viable number two back to pair up with Miles Sanders for the 2020 NFL season.

Granted, that ultimately didn’t happen. Despite having chance after chance to get a deal done, the Eagles opted to keep their RB2 needs in-house split between Corey Clement, Boston Scott, and Justin Huntley, who have combined for 73 fewer rushing yards than Carson Wentz through the first six games of the season.

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And as for Freeman? Well, he ultimately landed the role and contract(ish) he insisted he deserved over the course of the summer after Saquon Barkley suffered a season-ending ACL injury and is currently locked in as the lead rusher on the New York Football Giants.

For how bad the Eagles have been through the first six weeks of the season, the Giants are quite possibly the worst team in football, period – challenging their New York neighbors for that dubious distinction. Sure, they have a single win over a similarly hapless Washington team on their third starting quarterback in as many weeks. Still, it’s virtually impossible to imagine the Giants getting even close to a .500 record over the next 10 games, making their playoff chances in any division but the NFC East effectively dashed.

Is that really what Freeman signed up for?

To make matters worse, Freeman is off to the worst season of his career – averaging a career-low 3.2 yards per carry on an average of 12.8 per game. I get wanting to showcase your talents and parlay a big season on a prove-it contract into a massive payday down the line, but the Giants clearly aren’t allowing Freeman to make that happen.

*sigh* but it didn’t have to be this way.

No, had the Eagles and Freeman set their differences aside and been a bit more accommodating, maybe the two parties could be thriving in 2020. I mean, think about it, the Eagles have gotten basically nothing out of their backup running back position, which is particularly unimpressive when you consider Miles Sanders has consistently missed series in each of his five appearances this season due to a persistent hamstring injury.

Had Freeman signed with the Eagles instead of the Giants, he’d be gearing up for a start on Thursday Night Football in a beautiful black jersey as opposed to the white and blue combo of New York’s away uniforms.

Insert ‘Wolverine crush’ meme here.

Give Quinton Spain the big bucks. dark. Next

Now maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the Giants will pull out a win behind Danny Dimes in Joe Judge’s homecoming contest, and New York will go on a run to snatch away the NFC East crown, but that feels incredibly unlikely. No, It seems much more likely that the Philadelphia Eagles will squeak out a W with arguably the worst one-two-three running back punch in the league while Freeman cashes a check worth a little over $214,000 to run the ball a dozen and a half times in what was supposed to be his comeback season. All because the two parties couldn’t put their egos aside and agree to a number that worked for everyone. Yuck.

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