It looks like Philadelphia Eagles running back Darren Sproles will be hanging up his cleats very soon.
According to ESPN.com’s Tim McManus, Sproles explained that the 2017 season will be his last year in the NFL as his family wants him to be around more.
“I feel like [after 2017] it will be time,” Sproles said to McManus.
It does not come as a surprise that the 2017 season will be Sproles’ final NFL season as he is 33 years-old, and in the NFL, being a running back past 30 is considered ancient. We’ve seen teams upgrade their running backs due to age over the years, going for the younger player in the draft, simply because the older player cannot get it done.
However, Sproles has defied those odds this season as he has surpassed his workload from last season. This season, Sproles has rushed for 406 yards on 85 carries and has two touchdowns. He also has 49 receptions for 423 yards and two touchdowns. Not too mention, he is still is a factor on special teams.
Despite not having any punt returns for a touchdown, Sproles is averaging 13.2 yards per punt return, which is a career-high.
Going into the 2017 season, Sproles is another player who has a high cap number as he is scheduled to make $4 million. The Eagles could decide to cut Sproles because they only have $3.5 million in cap space currently, but with no definite answer in the backfield going forward, it looks like he will still be here.
“That’s not up to me. That’s up to the people upstairs. I’ve got nothing to do with that,” he said. “But that’s the plan.”
With the 2017 season presumably being Sproles’s last season, hopefully the Eagles’ front office can put a team together that can compete for a playoff spot. Sproles still believes this team can compete for a Super Bowl ring.
“We’ve got a good chance,” he replied. “We get some pieces in here, we can make a good push for it.”
We’ll see what the Eagles do in 2017 as they have a couple players, who are still chasing a ring and want to achieve that feat in Philadelphia.
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