Eagles coach Andy Reid may be intent on giving running back LeSean McCoy fewer touches in 2012, but the guy who runs the football operation in Philly also seems determined to give McCoy more money.
Said Reid in an interview with 97.5 The Fanatic, via SportsRadioInterviews.com through CSNPhilly.com (yes, sometimes giving credit sounds like a draft pick that has been traded by multiple teams), “I can’t share [details] with everybody, but I will tell you it is heading in the right direction. That’s all I can tell you.”
That’s a lot more than the Eagles ordinarily will tell anyone about contract discussions with a player.
But there’s more.
“He knows we appreciate him and we are working through those negotiations and I think good things will happen,” Reid said.
Even if things are “heading in the right direction,” getting to the place where “good things . . . happen” could be a challenge in light of the current veteran running back market. Two guys (Adrian Peterson and Chris Johnson) have gotten huge money, one guy (Arian Foster) has gotten really good money, a couple of others (Matt Forte and Ray Rice) are trying their damnedest to get something between really good and huge money, and everyone else gets paid at best like a pretty good kicker.
McCoy reasonably could attempt to get into Peterson/Johnson territory, but the Eagles have the leverage that comes from a $615,000 salary in 2012 and a franchise tag in 2012 that may not be much more than the $7.7 million it currently is. The question is whether the Eagles will use that leverage, if McCoy aims as high as he plausibly can.