PHILADELPHIA _ Two league sources Wednesday confirmed that there is increasing mutual interest in a reunion between the Eagles and free-agent running back LeSean McCoy.
There should be. He isn't the same Pro Bowl talent that Chip Kelly traded away in 2015, but LeSean "Shady" McCoy is precisely the sort of understudy the Eagles need for Miles "Boobie" Sanders, whose nicknames alone would unleash untapped marketing opportunity. Not to mention that there's still some spark left in Shady.
In his first 11 games as a Chief last year McCoy, then 31, gained 410 yards on 84 carries and scored four rushing touchdowns and caught 27 passes for 177 yards and another score. His contributions dwindled down the stretch, and he was a nonfactor in the playoffs, and his 2018 season in Buffalo was similarly modest ... but what team wouldn't take 587 total yards, a 5.29 yards-per-touch average, and five TDs in the first 11 games of a season from, say, a $2 million, 32-year-old backup?
McCoy's 2019 numbers virtually mirror the production the Eagles got from Jordan Howard last year, and injury limited Howard to one snap after Game 9. McCoy, said a well-placed source Monday, is completely healthy. As usual. In 10 seasons, McCoy has missed just 11 games to injury.
Perhaps more than any other reason, McCoy would be an apt tutor for Sanders. The Penn State star put together an astonishing rookie campaign that saved the Eagles' injury-addled season, but there's a level of excellence in Sanders yet untapped that McCoy could help him realize.
McCoy told ESPN in March that he wanted to play two more years, but, in an interview with the NFL Network two weeks ago, he modified that goal last week to one more season _ "To put a stamp on it." He wants the stamp to happen in Philadelphia, where he remains, arguably, the best back in franchise history. In just six seasons, McCoy became the all-time leading rusher, with 6,792 yards. He holds the highest per-carry average, 4.65 yards. Opponents hadn't feared a big-play back like McCoy since "Supersonic" Steve Van Buren ran his way into the Hall of Fame with his dominance in the 1940s. They haven't feared one since Shady, either. Not until Boobie popped onto the scene last season.
Sanders sitting at the feet of McCoy would also continue a uniquely Philadelphia tradition.
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