Sports

Do the Philadelphia Eagles still have D'Andre Swift in their future?

By Jeff Kerr

January 20, 2024 / 4:28 PM EST / CBS Philadelphia

Philadelphia Eagles D'Andre Swift surprises a high school football team in East Germantown

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- If D'Andre Swift was making the decision, he'd likely be back with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Unfortunately, that differs with the Eagles way of thinking at the position he plays.

Philadelphia traded for Swift in the final year of his rookie contract, giving the St. Joseph's Prep grad and Philadelphia native an opportunity to play for his hometown team. Swift took advantage, having his first career 1,000-yard season and most yards from scrimmage in his four NFL seasons (1,263).

Swift was rewarded for his efforts with a Pro Bowl berth, capping a dream first season in Philadelphia. Will it be his only season in midnight green?

"We'll see," Swift said. "It was a blessing to play here this year. We didn't finish how we wanted to but we had a special group of guys. A lot of great leadership on the team. We just didn't finish how we wanted to."

The odds are stacked against Swift coming back no matter his performance. The Eagles haven't given a multi-year contract to a running back since DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews received multi-year deals in 2015 -- and that was with Chip Kelly in charge of personnel.

Since Howie Roseman resumed general manager duties in 2016, running backs have only received one-year deals with the team in free agency. Swift said he is looking for a fair market deal for his position (he's a free agent for the first time), but wouldn't say if that deal would be for multiple years.

"Only time will tell," Swift said. "We'll see. I'm from here so just being able to wake up and know I'm close to my family, my friends where I grew up at is something I don't take for granted. People don't get this opportunity."

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"To be able to [play football] in my hometown and have a successful year, I just want to thank the organization for giving me the opportunity," he said.

Swift had a career-high in rushing yards (1,049) and received over 200 carries for the first time in his career. He also was the featured back for the first time, not sharing a role in a running back-by-committee like in Detroit.

The Eagles didn't run the ball like in previous years, ranking eighth in rushing yards and 11th in yards per carry. Last season, Philadelphia was fifth in rushing yards and in 2021, the Eagles were first.

The telling statistic for the lack of success at running back was yards before contact and yards after contact. Philadelphia was last in yards after contact (2.36) despite being first in yards before contact (1.93). The Eagles were at 2.64 yards after contact last season and 1.98 in yards before contact.

Despite changes likely coming to the position, Swift proved he can be a featured back. He wants that opportunity again, especially since he played 16 games and stayed healthy throughout the year.

"I think I proved a lot to myself first and foremost. But I'm just getting started, to be honest," Swift said. "I'm just scratching the
surface of everything that I can do. I'm just getting started."

"I know what I'm capable of, and everything is ahead of me," he said.

CBS News Philadelphia has been covering D'Andre Swift since the beginning. For more content related to the Philly favorite, check out our story links below.

Eagles running back D'Andre Swift surprises children at Saint Christopher's Hospital