March 23, 2023
Talk about a report that will send Philadelphia in a frenzy!
Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Eagles are one of three teams, along with the Jets and Bengals, that former Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott would like to play for:
Cowboys’ RB Ezekiel Elliott has narrowed down his options about where to play to the Eagles, Jets and Bengals, and he would like to make his decision about where to sign by the end of next week, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 23, 2023
Now, this doesn't state that the Eagles have concrete interest in Elliott. Maybe they do, but that's not exactly what I would take from this report. All three franchises are presumed to contend this year (under the assumption that Aaron Rodgers lands in New York) and could use boosts in their backfields, so it makes sense these are the teams who were thrown out there.
Hey, perhaps Elliott really wants to suit up in midnight green. Elliott, however, is very clearly on the downward trajectory of his career and I have some doubts he'd want to be in a committee that might use him even less than Dallas did in 2022 after Tony Pollard emerged as their best RB over the last couple of seasons.
I lived through the DeMarco Murray drama. Murray led the NFL in rushing with the Cowboys in 2014 after a huge workload of 392 carries. Dallas let him walk in free agency and the Chip Kelly-led Birds signed him to a five-year deal worth $42 million that is absolutely laughable in retrospect. Murray was awful in 2015 for one of the most loathsome Eagles teams ever, going from 4.7 yards per carry to 3.6 as his rushing total dropped from 1,845 yards to 702. Howie Roseman took front office power back the following offseason and promptly traded Murray away to Tennessee.
Signing Elliott would not be as disastrous with the foundation the Eagles have coming off their Super Bowl appearance, but it's hard not to think about history repeating itself in Philadelphia.
This type of move feels unnecessary for the Birds, but the shock factor with this report is part of the fun of the NFL offseason.
Follow Shamus & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @shamus_clancy | @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Shamus' RSS feed to your feed reader
