Miles Sanders says goodbye to Philadelphia as Eagles sign Rashaad Penny

Posted by Michael David Smith on March 15, 2023, 6:42 AM EDT
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles, Super Bowl LVII
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When Miles Sanders saw the news that the Eagles are going to sign running back Rashaad Penny, he saw the writing on the wall.

Sanders, a running back who has played his entire four-year career in Philadelphia, knows that the Eagles adding Penny means they’re bringing him in to replace Sanders, who is now expecting to sign elsewhere in free agency.

“To the city of Philadelphia Thank You from the bottom of my heart,” Sanders wrote.

Sanders had good numbers for the Eagles last season, carrying 259 times for 1,269 yards and 11 touchdowns, but the reality of today’s NFL is that smart teams like the Eagles aren’t devoting significant resources to the running back position. Penny agreed to a very affordable $1.35 million base salary on his one-year deal, and the Eagles also re-signed Boston Scott to an inexpensive deal and still have 2021 fifth-round pick Kenneth Gainwell on his rookie contract.

Sanders is going to want more money than the Eagles are willing to pay, and so he’ll be moving on.

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33 responses to “Miles Sanders says goodbye to Philadelphia as Eagles sign Rashaad Penny”

  3. Sanders is going to want more money than the Eagles are willing to pay, and so he’ll be moving on.

    ————–

    I liked Miles Sanders but the RB position is not one you should be breaking the bank for and the Eagles don’t have a lot of cap room to spend.

  5. Eagles fans have right to be proud of the team that was assembled and must hate seeing it picked apart.

  6. Miles sanders was a player that you needed to get in space, he otherwise couldn’t create much on his own, below avg strength, did some dumb things, and seemed to not show up at all in big games. You can say he wanted more money than eagles wanted to pay but he’s only in his 4yr. If he was worth it to them then they would’ve reached an agreement that works for both sides, and I seriously doubt he’ll get what he really wants contract wise in general in the open market

  8. RBs have to understand that they need to get what they can, while they can, but keep in mind that a higher salary/cap number gives a team an excellent reason to cut you and replace you with a rookie or cheaper RB. NONE of the RBs in the NFL will command more than $35k – $40k annually in the real world. The lesson is to have a long career at RB in the NFL these days, you need to be both productive on the field and reasonable in salary.

  11. I hope Howie also got buy-in from Penny’s hamstrings, because they have been known to get difficult in the past. High maintenance if you will.

  12. like Sanders, but too many blemishes for the money he wants. eagles will draft a RB along with the oft-injured Penny

  13. “… but the reality of today’s NFL is that smart teams like the Eagles aren’t devoting significant resources to the running back position.”

    ————

    Please, no one let Jerruh in on this secret. We all want to see more mediocrity out of Dallas.

  15. Honestly Miles Sanders was probably looking for $6-$8 mill a season and now we have all 4 RBS for roughly that amount.

    -Kenneth Gainwell
    -Boston Scott
    -Trey Sermon

    And now Rashaad Penny. Philly has a lot more holes to fill with limited Cap space. Good Luck Miles Sanders, where ever you sign!

    #Philly please bring back CGJ 🙏

  18. Penny is a slight upgrade to Sanders. It would be nice if there was room in the backfield for both, but with Gainwell and Scott as well…It’s already full of talent.

  20. Thanks for everything, Miles. It was definitely an up & down ride but effort was never questioned. Hopefully you find a nice spot in the AFC so I can continue to root for you. Best of luck one way or the other!

  21. Penny is like a Super expensive sports car. Looks real fast, and can preform. But going over a curb is putting it in the shop for weeks and its expensive to maintain for how little it drives.

  22. And so the purge begins so to sign Jalen “My shoulder hurts” Hurts , just another 1 year Dynasty.

  23. To those who are stating Penny is a coin flip, the factor not being considered here is the difference in how the Eagles use their RBs and the offensive line. Over the course of the last 3 seasons Miles Sanders has been last in yards after initial contact for RBs who have 150+ rushes and Penny has lead the league. The Seahawks offensive line has been trash, which means he is getting his yards through contact while Sanders has avoided, that means Penny has been hit by a lot of D Tackles and Ends, bigger and stronger players, while Sander’s yards have mostly come at the second level after the offensive line has cleared the road. Also Sander’s does not fight for yards, which will extend his career and make him available for more games, but he too has been injury prone – not as unavailable as Penny but last year was the only year out of the last three that Sanders has been available for every regular season game and even then there were games he was nicked up and had his load significantly reduced. I like Miles Sanders but I am not in love with him because he would never fight for the hard yards and constantly found the sidelines instead of lowering his shoulder and picking up an extra yard or two. He was absolutely a product of the Eagles dominant offensive line and the team barely missed a beat when other backs were utilized.

    I wish him the best of luck, but he isn’t going to get the buck he expects on the free agent market or he would have been signed by now. I think teams look at the split of yards before contact and after contact on every running backs carries and they are savvy enough to know he had road grading linemen in front of him in Philly and that might not be the case with most teams . . . so they aren’t going to pay him for the one pro-bowl season he managed in a contract year as if he is a true RB stud.

  24. Penny is only good for 3 or 4 games before he gets hurt and usually out for the rest of the season.

  26. No team with a high paid running back goes the the superbowl anymore. Plays out every year the same. You can get a top 5 college running back in the 3rd round of the draft, makes no sense to pay.

  27. KCFinfan says:
    March 15, 2023 at 10:08 am
    Penny will play like 5 games next year.

    ======================================

    Let’s hope. 5 games is all of the playoffs and superbowl.

  28. Sanders is better off on a team that will use his pass catching skills. He’s targets has gone from 50 to 20 over the past few seasons. Given Penny has only caught 27 passes his entire career that seems to fit the Eagles offense.

  29. He’s just not gonna get the money he wants and the stats say he deserves. The money just isn’t gonna be there. Hope he was smart with what he’s made so far and hasn’t invested in Woke banks going under right now.

  31. He kept wanting to bounce everything outside so the Birds bounced him outside the clubhouse .

  32. IF The NFL competition committee takes away the Eagles rendition of the QB sneak, this guy, will make up the difference. IF they don’t take it away, the Eagles won’t need it as much, and it won’t be an issue anymore. 3 birds, one stone – Miles is gone, Penny is a roll of quarters at the cost of a roll of nickels, and the QB sneak will not be needed as much.

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