Much has been said about Philadelphia’s approach to running backs this offseason. Will Rashaad Penny and D’Andre Swift really make less than Miles Sanders combined next year? Not really — and those aren’t the only numbers that fail to add up.
Sanders signed a four-year, $25,400,000 contract with Carolina this offseason, but with a low base salary and signing bonus, his cap number will be just $2,555,000 in 2023. While Penny and Swift also have modest base salaries, together they will make over $1M more than Sanders next year.
But will Philadelphia get what it pays for? Sanders had 1,269 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Eagles last season, all career highs. That’s 520 yards more than Penny’s career best and 652 more yards than Swift’s most productive year.
Swift has seven receiving touchdowns in his career, but he’s never run for more than eight touchdowns in a single season. He had exactly five each of the last two years. Penny has never run for more than six scores in any season.
Penny has missed a lot of games over the years and so has Swift. Penny missed 12 games in 2023, Swift three. But could the patchwork sum of a Swift-Penny backfield be greater than its parts? Roseman seems to think so, but once again the numbers say otherwise.
Penny played five games for Seattle in 2023. He had 346 yards with two touchdowns before a broken leg ended his season early. Meanwhile in Detroit, Swift rushed for 542 yards and five scores. Even with Swift’s three receiving touchdowns last season, he and Penny together came up one touchdown and more than 381 yards short of Sanders’ 2023 campaign.
The odds that Swift and Penny stay healthy and have ‘bounce back’ years are not good. Penny has yet to play a full season in the NFL. In five years, he has missed 40 games to an assortment of injuries.
Swift has done a little better. He’s missed 10 games in three years but at 5-foot-9 and 203 pounds, he’s not built to carry the load for any team.
Giving Sanders a four-year deal — as Carolina did — probably wasn’t smart, but counting on a pair of fragile runners to lead the backfield is equally risky.
If Philly’s new running backs can’t stay healthy, the rest of the team will have to pick up the tab.
