LeSean McCoy was all smiles as he met the media last night, the Eagles Pro Bowl RB had just put pen to paper on a brand new 5-year extension that will pay him $45 million and keep him in green through the 2017 season. For the kid from Harrisburg, its the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.
"I love this team, and I'm kind of a hometown kid from Harrisburg which is like an hour and a half away." McCoy said.
"The biggest thing is that my whole life, I've always thought about being a professional football player and working hard to this point where I sign a major contract to be with a great organization. It's a blessing."
McCoy is the fourth former Eagles draft pick to get a new, big money extension from the team this offseason (Trent Cole, Todd Herremans & DeSean Jackson being the others). Head coach Andy Reid that its important for the team to lock up players like McCoy.
"We have good, young players here who enjoy playing for the city of Philadelphia. If you're going to be accepted into this city, there's a certain attitude that you need to bring. We felt like we had a great nucleus of guys, LeSean being one of that group. He does it all, so this isn't a one-dimensional running back. This is a running back that can not only carry the football for you but can catch the football as well as the wide receivers and he can block and loves playing the game. That brings great energy to this football team."
McCoy's extension was completely painless, unlike the process to get DeSean Jackson re-signed. He was publicly unhappy about his deal, seemed to let it affect his play and had to be franchised this offseason before he finally got a deal done. McCoy was asked whether he learned anything from what DeSean went through?
"Me and DeSean are great friends, and everybody handles things differently," McCoy explained. "I don't really want to get involved with other guys contract situations or problems. We never really got into it about that, and me as a person and just the way I was raised, I try and do things the right way. I thought that the team knew that I wanted a new deal. I go out every week and work hard in practice and in the games playing my heart out. I didn't want to act the fool and do the wrong thing because I wasn't raised like that. I want to do the right things by showing up and being a team guy, all the things that I really am. It wasn't like I had to act like I was this different person, I was just being myself."
At 23 years old, LeSean McCoy already holds the Eagles single season franchise records for rushing TDs and total TDs. He was 4th in the league in rushing and led in the NFL in first downs and TDs. If he stays healthy, there's really no telling how much better he can get. Howie Roseman said that locking down McCoy and the rest of the teams' good young core was their plan this offseason.
"I think it starts when we sat down and made our offseason plan. We decided to focus on re-signing our own players and keeping a bulk of the team intact for now and going into the future. Obviously, LeSean was a big part of that. We felt like it was really important to get that done and try to get that done quickly, so we were going to be aggressive about it. He's a part of the family and his style and his play are so important to the organization and this team. I know I speak for a lot of us when I say that we're excited that he's going to be here for a long time."
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LeSean McCoy was all smiles as he met the media last night, the Eagles Pro Bowl RB had just put pen to paper on a brand new 5-year extension that will pay him $45 million and keep him in green through the 2017 season. For the kid from Harrisburg, its the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.
McCoy is the fourth former Eagles draft pick to get a new, big money extension from the team this offseason (Trent Cole, Todd Herremans & DeSean Jackson being the others). Head coach Andy Reid that its important for the team to lock up players like McCoy.