By now, you know the rumor that the Eagles have the hots for Jadeveon Clowney. Allegedly, they officially have an offer on the table for the sought after defensive end. But, lost in the hysteria of the Eagles possibly bringing in the man who ended Carson Wentz’ season, was that the same source says the Eagles could be interested in Leonard Fournette. Who knows how reliable this source actually is but here is his Fournette comments:
If I were the @Eagles I would get "BACK" on the ☎️ with the @Jaguars and work a deal for @_fournette …The birds get a back who had 76 catches and north of 1400 yds last yr in the backfield with @cj_wentz …Eagles win the SuperBowl!
— Dan Sileo (@DanSileoShow) May 9, 2020
By saying that the Eagles should get “back on the phone” for Fournette implies that there have been initial discussions with the Jaguars for the running back. Recently, the Jaguars declined the fifth year option on Fournette, all but guaranteeing he will be gone from Jacksonville once he hits free agency. Tom Coughlin and the Jags continue their radical strategy of building a team by isolating and getting rid of all their top talent. Seems to be going well.
For Eagles fans, this isn’t the disgruntled Jaguar player they were expecting to land. Yannick Ngakoue has spent the entire offseason pleading and begging for the Jags to free him from Jacksonville. He teases that Philadelphia is his team of choice and channels his inner Reggie White on social media. His defensive prowess would erase the need for Jadeveon Clowney entirely but may come at a much higher cost of not only money, but draft picks. Which of these Jaguars cast offs would be more appealing to Birds fans?
Here in the real world and not the Madden world, the Eagles don’t spend money on running backs. There are already having debates about whether to pay Miles Sanders the type of money Christian McCaffery got, and he’s played one year where he wasn’t even the starter the whole time. The Eagles just flat out don’t value the position. They’ve been able to get a ton of production out of players who don’t cost a ton. Once they’ve served their purpose, they move on. It would be hard to see this team and Howie paying $8 million, which is what Fournette is due, to someone who won’t even be an RB1. The Eagles could sign Devonta Freeman for half the amount and not waste a draft pick doing it.
With everything this team does, it’s about value and cost. With Fournette, he would likely be a one year rental. If they “get back on the phone for him”, it means they think they can get him for a low draft pick. It also means they think he’s worth $8 million in a running back role.