Getty The Eagles are signing RB Rashaad Penny.
The Philadelphia Eagles may have found their replacement for Miles Sanders.
As reported by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network on Tuesday, March 14, former Seattle Seahawks running back Rashaad Penny is signing with the Philadelphia Eagles.
“Source: The #Eagles have agreed to terms with #Seahawks RB Rashaad Penny,” said Rapoport.
As Kevin Patra of NFL Network notes, it’s a one-year deal with a $1.35 million base salary, $600,000 guaranteed and a max deal of $2.1 million.
Rashaad Penny’s Potential is Limitless When Healthy
Penny is a former first-round draft pick who has undoubtedly shown off his potential when he’s been healthy. However, Penny has had trouble staying healthy, appearing in just 18 games over the past three seasons. Furthermore, he’s never played a full season in his career and is coming off of a broken fibula injury suffered in Week 5 of last season.
With that being said, Penny’s talent is certainly there. Penny has averaged 6.2 yards per carry over the past two seasons, demonstrating top speed to break away from defenders and power to break through tacklers. Penny’s 6.3 yards per carry during the 2021 season led all runners and he averaged 6.1 yards per carry over the course of the first five games of last season.
Penny also rushed for at least 135 yards in four of his last five outings of the 2021 season, leading the NFL in rushing over that span. As Tim McManus of ESPN notes, he joined former MVP Shaun Alexander as the only players in Seahawks history to top 130 rushing yards in three straight games.
“With starter Chris Carson on injured reserve, Penny led the NFL with 671 rushing yards over the final five games — 208 yards more than anyone else,” said McManus. “Per ESPN Stats & Information research, he joined Shaun Alexander as the only players in Seahawks history with 130 rushing yards in three straight games. Penny topped that mark in four of the final five games, including a career-best 190 yards in the season finale. He scored six rushing touchdowns in that span, one more than he scored over his first 32 regular-season games.”
Miles Sanders’ Tenure With Eagles Likely Over
The signing of Penny likely signals the end of Sanders’ tenure with the Eagles after four seasons. The 25-year-old is coming off of a banner season, rushing for a career-high 1,269 yards and 11 touchdowns. However, he’s a free agent and according to Spotrac, his market value is $7.2 million per year, which would make him the 10th-highest paid running back in the league.
However, he saw less carries during the postseason as he started to split the workload with Kenneth Gainwell. Sanders carried the ball 35 times for 148 yards in the playoffs in comparison to Gainwell’s 33 carries for 181 yards. Both running backs saw just seven carries each in the Super Bowl.
Sanders sent out a tweet shortly after Penny’s signing, acknowledging that his time in Philadelphia may be over.
“To the city of Philadelphia Thank You from the bottom of my heart,” said Sanders.
Outside of signing Penny, the Eagles also re-signed backup running back Boston Scott to a one-year, $2 million deal. Scott carried the ball 54 times for 217 yards and three touchdowns last season.