Sometime in the past year, the Philadelphia Eagles offered running back LeSean McCoy a contract that would have paid him just $6 million per season, the Philadelphia Daily News reported Saturday.
Harrison: Free-agency winners/losers
Which teams have vastly improved in free agency? Which teams are dropping the ball? Elliot Harrison weighs in. **More ...**
That would be a comparatively low-paying contract for a running back who finished the 2011 season with 1,309 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns. Arian Foster, who ran for 1,224 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2011, recently signed a five-year, $43.5 million deal to stay with the Texans (at an average of $8.7 million per year) and the franchise-tag value for running backs this season is around $7.7 million.
A source told the newspaper that one of the reasons McCoy fired agent Drew Rosenhaus last year was because Rosenhaus attempted to convince McCoy to take the Eagles' relatively low offer. McCoy has since re-hired Rosenhaus.
McCoy will make $600,000 in the final year of his current contract, according to the newspaper. Despite McCoy's reported stance on the previously offered deal, an agent who represents Eagles players told the newspaper that the possibility that McCoy could be given the franchise tag next offseason gives the Eagles the upper hand. The agent guessed that "something will get done by the start of camp" with regard to a new deal for McCoy.
