Can Rashaad Penny's Gamble Pay Off? One Big 'If'

The Philadelphia Eagles followed up their Super Bowl appearance by signing veteran running back Rashaad Penny this offseason after the Seattle Seahawks let him walk in free agency.

Penny is a former first-round draft pick that, in totality, looks unimpressive through the first five seasons of his career, but a closer look at his numbers tells a different story.

Though only averaging 383.6 rushing yards per season, Penny has been electric when healthy, averaging 5.7 yards per attempt for his career. Unfortunately, as the cliché goes, the best ability is availability. Over the past three regular seasons, Penny has only played in 36 percent of all possible games.

Bleacher Report recently weighed in on Penny as the Eagles' “overlooked addition” after signing the injury-plagued rusher for the low cost of $1.35 million.

“Penny is clearly betting on himself and has a great opportunity to earn a bigger contract in 2024 if he can stay healthy. B/R wrote. “After finishing the 2021 campaign on a high note—rushing for 671 yards and six touchdowns over the last five weeks—Penny went down again in 2022 with a broken fibula just five weeks into the season.”

However, playing in Philly behind one of the best offensive lines in the NFL and splitting snaps with fellow electric running back D'Andre Swift could be just the combination that Penny needs to finally stay healthy and display his talents across the span of an entire season for the first time in his career.

Signing a proven running back at pennies on the dollar could be the low-risk, high-reward signing that helps propel the Eagles from making a Super Bowl in 2022 to winning it in 2023. But if the Eagles want it to pay off, Penny must show he can stay healthy.

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