Could LeSean McCoy End Career With Eagles?

The running back told reporters at the Super Bowl that he wanted to retire as an Eagle, but team may look to add veteran presence as a free agent this offseason

USA Today

Running back LeSean McCoy has finally made it to a Super Bowl.

It wasn’t with the Eagles, of course, even though he is the organization’s all-time leading rusher, with 6,792 yards. It is with the Kansas City Chiefs. He’s in Miami for Super Bowl LIV, but he’s not sure if he will be active when K.C. takes on the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

McCoy, who holds the Eagles’ single season rushing record with 1,607 yards set in 2013, was a healthy scratch for the AFC Championship Game, so whether Andy Reid opts to keep McCoy on the gameday 46-man roster isn’t clear at this point.

What is clear is that, when McCoy is ready to retire, he will do so as a Philadelphia Eagle.

“I’m going to retire as an Eagle,” LeSean McCoy told The Philadelphia Inquirer during Monday evening’s Super Bowl media availability session. “Right now, I’m a Chief. I’m doing my thing here. But when it’s all said and done, that’s home for me. It’s weird because places I play at, people know that.”

Not only is McCoy the Eagles’ all-time rushing leader and single season rushing holder, but he holds the franchise’s record for most yards in a game with 217, doing that against the Detroit Lions on Dec. 8, 2013, and for most touchdowns in a season with 17 set in 2011.

McCoy is also tied for second in team history for most 100-yard games in a season with seven, one behind Wilbert Montgomery, done in 2013. Two years earlier, McCoy had six 100-yard games, which ties him for fourth most on the team’s all-time list. And he is third for most rushing touchdowns in a career with 44, one behind Montgomery, but 25 behind Steve Van Buren.

McCoy posted those numbers in just six seasons with the Eagles before then-head coach Chip Kelly inexplicably traded McCoy to the Buffalo Bills following the 2104 season in exchange for linebacker Kiko Alonso.

“I was real hurt in Philly when that happened,” McCoy told The Inquirer. “That hurt me for a while because I was the best player on the team, especially on offense and that was like home for me. My hometown is an hour away.”

Kelly parted ways with another fan favorite, receiver DeSean Jackson, who was simply cut a year before the trade of McCoy. Jackson returned this past season, though played only one game at full health.

McCoy, who will turn 32 in July, played on a one-year contract with Kansas City that paid him $3 million.

Perhaps the Eagles could look to bring back McCoy to the franchise where his career began as a second-round draft pick out of the University of Pittsburgh in 2009.

The Eagles might be in the market for a veteran running back to pair with Miles Sanders and Boston Scott, depending on what the team decides to do with free agent Jordan Howard.

McCoy would certainly welcome that chance, especially because he told reporters on Monday that he is not ready to retire, yet.

"I still can play,” said McCoy. “So, I'm not going to retire yet, but that day is coming. That day is definitely coming."

Despite his diminished role this season in Kansas City, McCoy still played in 13 games, getting 101 carries for 465 yards and four touchdowns.

He has become more of a mentor much the way Brian Westbrook was with him when he entered the league as a rookie. And McCoy is fine with that.

Another part of him would no doubt like to add to his career numbers, and perhaps increase his chances at making it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame someday.

McCoy has 11,071 career yards rushing with 75 touchdowns and another 3,797 yards and 16 touchdowns receiving.

That yardage total puts him 22 on the NFL’s all-time list. If he can find a way to put up another 1,004 yards on the ground, he would vault all the way to the 15 spot, passing Thurman Thomas and just behind Franco Harris.

McCoy is just 156 yards away from passing O.J. Simpson and can move into the top 20 with another 161 yards that would push him ahead of Corey Dillon.

Maybe he does that with the Eagles.