Miles Sanders next team odds: Panthers, Broncos, Bills favorites to sign former Eagles Pro Bowl running back
Miles Sanders apparently will not be returning to the Philadelphia Eagles.
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If this were 2003 instead of 2023, there's little chance the Philadelphia Eagles would let running back Miles Sanders leave in free agency after he rushed for a career-high 1,269 yards and 11 touchdowns, earning a Pro Bowl spot and helping lead the team to the Super Bowl. However, the value of running backs is severely diminished in the NFL these days and Sanders apparently will not be back in Philly after the team signed cheaper free agent Rashaad Penny on Tuesday. SportsLine offers odds on Sanders' next team.
With Josh Jacobs, Saquon Barkley and Tony Pollard receiving the franchise tag from their respective teams, Sanders is the best available running back in free agency and ranked as the 16th-best offensive player at CBS Sports.
After news of Penny's one-year deal broke, Sanders tweeted: "To the city of Philadelphia Thank You from the bottom of my heart." Last month, he said in a quote posted to his Instagram story: "I love Philly. Just bring me back. I hope they bring me back."
Sanders, a 2019 second-round pick out of Penn State, is still only 25 years old (26 in May) and has a career yards-per-carry average of 5.0, but he had been injury-prone the previous two seasons and doesn't add much as a receiver out of the backfield. The team almost started phasing him out in the playoffs, as Sanders had just 11 rushes for 42 yards in the NFC title game (but two touchdowns) and was a non-factor in the Super Bowl loss to Kansas City with only seven carries for 16 yards.
The Eagles still are solid at tailback with Penny, a former first-round pick by Seattle who has been excellent when healthy but hasn't been able stay on the field, Boston Scott and Kenneth Gainwell.
Two NFC North teams were going to be high on the list of Sanders suitors in the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions, but have already acquired new running backs. The Bears lost No. 1 running back David Montgomery in free agency to Detroit on Tuesday but have brought in with former Seahawk Travis Homer, and GM Ryan Poles appears ready to ride a Khalil Herbert-Homer duo while the Bears rebuild unless Poles can get Sanders on the cheap.
Detroit's Jamaal Williams led the NFL with a career-high 17 rushing TDs last season but is a free agent and will be 28 in April, so the Lions chose to sign the younger Montgomery.
Carolina traded away Christian McCaffrey last season and his replacement, journeyman D'Onta Foreman, was terrific in McCaffrey's place. Foreman is a free agent and has never proven himself as a featured back previously. New Panthers assistant head coach and running backs coach Duce Staley was Sanders' former RBs coach in Philadelphia.
Buffalo has been linked to Detroit's Williams, but Sanders is younger. The Bills' Devin Singletary is a free agent and James Cook isn't a three-down back.
Denver's top running back, Javonte Williams, will likely miss the start of the 2023 season rehabbing from his torn ACL, and the new deep-pocketed Broncos ownership already has shown it is willing to spend big time in free agency. New Orleans has one of the best receiving backs in the league in Alvin Kamara and Sanders could be a nice rushing complement.
The Cincinnati Bengals reportedly may release Joe Mixon and also could be in the market. New England running back Damien Harris is a free agent, but the Patriots have Rhamondre Stevenson.
The potential trade market for the Chargers' Austin Ekeler and Titans' Derrick Henry could affect any Sanders free-agent market, and perhaps one of those teams becomes interested if they make a trade.
The Miami Dolphins would have been very high on this list before they re-signed running backs Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson on Tuesday on two-year deals each.
Via SportsLine oddsmakers: Which team will sign Miles Sanders?
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