Eagles will host a familiar face on a free agent visit [UPDATE]

UPDATE: The Eagles are reportedly expected to sign Jordan Howard to their practice squad.

ORIGINAL STORY BELOW.

In a very unsurprising development, the Eagles are set to host former Philadelphia running back Jordan Howard on a free agent visit in the near future. This much was revealed on the NFL’s official transaction wire.

We wrote about the possibility of the Eagles re-signing Howard after the Miami Dolphins waived him earlier this week. Here’s what we said at the time:

We all know the Philadelphia Eagles love familiarity. To a fault, really, when you consider their over-reliance on former players.

In that vein, it’s probably worth noting that the former Eagles running back Jordan Howard might be available to Philly. The Miami Dolphins waived the 26-year-old on Monday afternoon.

There was some thought that the Eagles might re-sign Howard earlier this year after they originally traded for him in March 2019. But he instead signed a two-year, $10 million free agent contract with the Dolphins to presumably be their No. 1 back.

Howard immediately struggled to make an impact with his new team. He logged just 11 rushing yards on 13 attempts in his first two starts! It was no surprise to see him eventually phased out of the offense; he’s averaging an atrociously awful 1.2 yards per carry this year in addition to having one reception for negative three yards. Plus one fumble on just 28 carries.

Howard was a positive contributor for the Eagles in 2019 with a 4.4 average and six touchdowns on 119 rushing attempts. But he got phased out in Philly due to the combination of his injury and the emergence on Miles Sanders.

And speaking of Sanders, the Eagles should be focused on getting him more touches as opposed to bringing in another back to split them with. It’s not like the Birds are in desperate need of a No. 2 option with Boston Scott coming off some solid performances. Replacing Corey Clement with Howard would probably be fine but the latter isn’t going to be counted on to play special teams.

And here’s how you voted when asked if you wanted to see Howard back in Philly:

In theory, the Eagles could afford to add a running back with a physical skill-set. But Howard’s been awful this year! Re-signing him could be a waste of time, just like it was to bring Jay Ajayi back last season.

Re-signing Howard makes some sense if Corey Clement, who was just placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, is going to be unavailable for a bit. But it’s going to take some time for Howard to pass through COVID-19 testing before being able to join the Eagles anyway.

What if instead of signing Howard, who clearly isn’t going to be a long-term piece for the Eagles, they tried to poach an intriguing young talent off another team’s practice squad? Or give some more touches to Jason Huntley?

The Eagles bringing Howard in for a visit doesn’t necessarily guarantee they’re going to sign him. But it very well could mean he’ll be back in the fold in the near future. If that’s the case, one can only hope he’ll recapture his first-half-of-2019 form instead of looking like the same ineffective option he was for the Dolphins this year.