It’s no secret that GM Howie Roseman doesn’t value the running back position.
Just over a year ago, the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl with a three-headed running back formation of LeGarrette Blount (formerly undrafted, signed to a one-year deal), Jay Ajayi (midseason trade acquisition), and Corey Clement (undrafted rookie). This past year, the Eagles’ leading rusher was undrafted rookie Josh Adams, who didn’t even emerge as the brief workhorse back until midseason before getting benched for the playoffs. Also handling carries were Darren Sproles, Wendell Smallwood, Clement, and Ajayi, which was largely a reason the Eagles finished 28th in rushing offense and 30th in yards per carry.
Going out and spending $40 million guaranteed on Le’Veon Bell was never going to be Roseman’s style. He prefers to beef up the offensive line and receiving corps, investing just minimal resources into the backs. Still, it was surprising to see the Eagles pass on so many backs in free agency that would have been realistic options – Mark Ingram, Tevin Coleman, Carlos Hyde, or Latavius Murray.
The NFL draft is a month away, and it’s a near-certainty that the Roseman will invest at least one draft pick in a running back. But the Eagles haven’t drafted a running back in the first three rounds since LeSean McCoy in 2009, and the last five running backs that they did draft (Donnell Pumphrey, Smallwood, Bryce Brown, Dion Lewis, and Charles Scott) haven’t exactly become franchise backs in Philadelphia. It’s fair to wonder how much trust fans should have in Roseman, and even should he spend a mid-to-high draft pick on a running back, the Eagles still need to address the position with a free agent or potential trade partner.
Barring an unforeseen move, it’s likely that Philly enters another year with a rotational group of running backs, still trying to find the replacement for Shady McCoy. Here are six free agent/trade candidates that could find themselves wearing Eagles green in 2019.
Jordan Howard: A former fifth-round pick of the Chicago Bears, Jordan Howard has outproduced his draft status in three years in the league. He’s rushed for 3,370 yards and 24 touchdowns, made a Pro Bowl, missed just one game due to injury, and he’s still just 24 years old. To be fair, Howard’s numbers have dropped substantially, notably from a 5.2 yards-per-carry average as a rookie to just 3.7 last year. He doesn’t catch passes, and the Bears inked free agent back Mike Davis to a two-year deal this offseason to pair with All-Pro multipurpose back Tarik Cohen, which suggests Howard may have fallen out of favor with the front office.
Howard is set to hit free agency after 2019, and it makes sense for Bears GM Ryan Pace to try to get a draft pick for him now if he can. Even a fifth-round pick from the Eagles would give Chicago their return on investment from Howard, and this after having used him heavily for three years.
Leonard Fournette: As a player, Leonard Fournette is similar to Jordan Howard – he’s a high-volume, low yards-per-carry bruiser who doesn’t catch many passes. After Jacksonville spent the fourth overall selection on Fournette in 2017, he followed up a promising 1,040-yard rookie campaign with a nightmarish 2018. In a span of a few months, Fournette missed time with a nagging hamstring injury, was suspended for an on-field fight, saw his playing time reduced drastically down the stretch, and was then called out by Jaguars’ Executive VP of Football Operations, Tom Coughlin.
Coughlin has given Fournette the public vote of confidence going forward as his lead running back under new quarterback Nick Foles. And considering what the Jaguars organization used to acquire Fournette in the draft two years ago, you’d have to think Roseman would need to give up at least a fourth-round pick in the 2019 draft, and the Eagles would then be on the books for Fournette’s $7.4 million and $8.6 million cap hits in ’20 and ’21. It’s unlikely and would require a significant leap of faith from Philly that Fournette can regain the form he showed as a rookie.
Matt Breida: Trades in the NFL are uncommon, but a Nelson Agholor-for-Matt Breida trade may make sense for both parties, and Roseman’s history shows he certainly isn’t shy about trading. Agholor is a former first-round pick from the Chip Kelly era who has shown flashes along with long periods of inconsistency. He’s scheduled to earn $9.4 million under his fifth-year option in 2019, and it’s surprising that Roseman hasn’t extended Agholor yet or at least restructured that deal into a lower cap hit.
Meanwhile, San Francisco could use an upgrade at wide receiver to go with $137 million quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, and it currently has a plethora of talented running backs. Niners GM John Lynch signed Tevin Coleman to a two-year, $10 million contract this offseason, and they’re on the books for Jerick McKinnon’s $5.75 million cap hit in ’19. That means Matt Breida, who is set to become a restricted free agent after this coming year, may be available. Filling in when McKinnon was injured last season, Breida averaged a slick 5.3 yards per rush, gaining over 1,000 yards from scrimmage.
With what San Francisco is committed to paying Coleman and McKinnon in 2019, it’s unlikely Breida will come close to duplicating his workload from last year. Adding Agholor would dramatically improve a wide receiving corps that is currently set to feature Dante Pettis, Jordan Matthews, and Marquise Goodwin in prominent roles.
Isaiah Crowell: The New York Jets considered Isaiah Crowell to be disposable after signing Le’Veon Bell, and it would be ludicrous for the Eagles to not at least express interest in Crowell. He’s still just 26 years old and has averaged a healthy 4.3 yards per carry in his career on teams that have featured Brian Hoyer, Johnny Manziel, Josh McCown, Cody Kessler, DeShone Kizer, and rookie Sam Darnold at the quarterback position.
Crowell is one of just four backs in the league to handle at least 140 carries in each of the last five seasons, meaning he’s comfortable playing an integral role in the offense. He won’t take up much on the salary cap, and while he’s not a terrific pass catcher, it would at least boost up an Eagles running back corps that is fairly bare in late March.
Spencer Ware: It’s easy to forget now, but the year before Kareem Hunt broke out for Kansas City, it was Spencer Ware who was the workhorse back for the Chiefs offense, gaining 1,368 yards from scrimmage and scoring five touchdowns in 14 starts. A torn MCL/PCL ended his 2017 season before it started, and he was relegated to an afterthought in the Chiefs backfield a year ago.
He’s now hitting free agency as a 27-year-old with limited mileage and no ill effects (4.8 YPC on 51 carries in 2018) from the knee injury. Ware worked with Doug Pederson on the 2015 Chiefs when Pederson was offensive coordinator, and he should be a solid low-cost stopgap option should the Eagles so choose.
Jay Ajayi: Jay Ajayi certainly isn’t the most exciting option, and anyone who has followed his career knows of his extensive injury history. But when Ajayi was healthy on the 2017 Eagles, he was pretty effective, averaging a strong 5.8 yards per carry and averaging over 80 scrimmage yards per game in the playoffs.
From a financial standpoint, Ajayi’s torn ACL from 2018 means the Eagles should certainly be able to bring him back for cheap if they want. He entered the league as a rookie amid concerns about his knee being bone-on-bone, and he’s done nothing to quell those concerns, having missed 22 games already in just four years. Still, when he’s been on the field, Ajayi has been an underrated back – he made the Pro Bowl in 2016, helped the Eagles win a Super Bowl in 2017, and he’s averaged 4.5 yards per carry in his career.
There comes a point where enough is enough, which is where the Eagles may be at with Ajayi. If he is signed, it certainly won’t be for a few more months, so that he can continue rehabbing and prove he’s fully returned from last year’s injury. If anything, he’s a fallback plan should the Eagles have no one else to sign.
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