The Philadelphia Eagles will have to make plenty of difficult decisions on the way with free agency approaching next week, but one of the easiest may be to move on from running back Will Shipley. A former fourth-round pick in the 2024 draft, the Clemson product has been disappointing since coming into the league and is now hanging onto his roster spot by a thread with Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby locked into the top two roles.
While there’s still a chance Shipley could retain his roster spot, he will likely have to do so against some competition. Adding a lower-tier running back in free agency or re-signing AJ Dillon due to his ties with new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion should be considered legitimate possibilities. A new opportunity arose, though, when the Denver Broncos chose not to offer a tender to running back Jaleel McLaughlin, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
With McLaughlin now a free agent, the Eagles could pick him up to add to the RB3 competition and potentially give them a good reason to say goodbye to Shipley this summer.
Jaleel McLaughlin's Broncos Release Could End Will Shipley’s Time with Eagles
Shipley was a sleeper candidate after being picked by the Eagles with the 127th overall pick two years ago, but he hasn’t been able to find his footing in his first two seasons. Despite appearing in 31 games, Shipley has managed 131 yards on 44 carries and hasn’t done much in the passing game with just 13 catches for 91 yards. The Eagles also tried to get him more involved by returning 29 kicks this season, but he did so with limited success, averaging just 26.8 yards per return.
This is a far cry from the player who ran for 2,747 yards and scored 32 touchdowns in three seasons at Clemson and may have played his way onto the roster bubble, especially with McLaughlin becoming available.
McLaughlin would add a speedy complement to the backfield, running a 40-yard dash with an unofficial time of 4.42 and 4.44 seconds at his Pro Day in 2023. While that hasn’t translated into a big opportunity during his three years with the Broncos, he had some flashes, running 226 times for 1,093 yards and three touchdowns while adding 59 catches for 263 yards and four touchdowns.
That production sounds similar to Kenneth Gainwell, who had 1,185 yards and 12 touchdowns over four seasons with the Eagles from 2021 to 2024. In fact, Gainwell was the player that Shipley was supposed to replace after he signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers last offseason.
As Philadelphia fans know, those plans for Shipley didn’t materialize. Now, the Eagles are looking for someone else to take that role, and it could lead to McLaughlin coming aboard and making Shipley expendable.