Philadelphia Eagles: Rodney McLeod says he is “here to stay”

With the entire football-watching world focused in on the looming NFL schedule release, multi-year Philadelphia Eagles free safety Rodney McLeod took to Twitter to express some thoughts about the upcoming 2021 campaign:

There’s a lot to breakdown in this near minute long video, most notably that McLeod expressed significant confidence in his ability to be medically ready for Week 1 this season. McLeod didn’t undergo surgery on his ACL until late December of last year, so there was some genuine concern that he would miss at a least few weeks at the start of the 2021 season.

Such an injury at McLeod’s age has been known to sideline players for as long as an entire calendar year.

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However, McLeod states himself in the video that he expects to be active for Week 1. Whether that vote of confidence is backed by his doctors and his trainers, I guess only time will tell.

McLeod also highlighted the fact that there’s been some questions this past offseason in regards to his status with the Philadelphia Eagles. The team brought in two new safeties via free agency in Anthony Harris and Andrew Adams, and McLeod’s contract expires at the end of the 2021 season. I’m not saying it’s a foregone conclusion that the Eagles are going to part ways with McLeod sometime in the next 12 months, but it definitely appears to be trending in that direction.

Outside of Harris and Adams, young players like K’Von Wallace, Grayland Arnold, and Marcus Epps are also expected to push some of the veteran safeties for playing time back in the secondary.

Philadelphia Eagles safety Rodney McLeods is out to prove his worth in 2021.

McLeod was actually enjoying a rather productive 2020 season before tearing his ACL. He had logged 66 tackles, 7 passes defensed, and one interception across 13 starts, and his allowed passer rating when targeted was way down at 56.2. One could very easily make the argument that McLeod was the team’s best overall defensive back in 2020.

While it’s highly unlikely that McLeod will be able to return to such a high level of form following reconstructive knee surgery, him returning at just 75% of that form would be a major boost to a rather young Eagles secondary.

McLeod giving the Eagles one more season of productive play back in the secondary would seriously aid new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon while he figures out if guys like Wallace and Epps are worthwhile building blocks.

Ultimately speaking though, actions speak louder than words. As cool as McLeod’s Twitter hype up  video was, it’s just a matter of him proving that he can actually return at a serviceable level in 2021.