Eagles: There’s no sense in trading for Leonard Fournette

A few weeks ago it was reported that the Jaguars were shopping Leonard Fournette, and on Friday the Jaguars declined the fifth-year option on his rookie deal, making 2020 the final year of his contract. The Eagles were naturally discussed as a potential suitor back then given their possible need for a bigger back to compliment Sanders and Scott, and neglecting to draft a back keeps those rumors alive.

Jaguars have had trade discussions with other teams regarding RB Leonard Fournette, league sources tell ESPN. Fournette is due $4.16 million in base salary in 2020. It's a situation that bears watching as this week's draft approaches.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 18, 2020

From two days ago:

Jaguars are not picking up the fifth-year option of former first-round pick Leonard Fournette, per source.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 1, 2020

I understand the thought process behind linking him to the Eagles obviously (I outlined that above) but I’m not entirely sure it’s worth giving up a draft pick/cap space for—maybe a 6 or 7, but anything more is hard to justify. Fournette is a freak athlete, but his career average of just 4.0 yards per carry is underwhelming; all three of Blount, Ajayi, and Howard have better career numbers, and posted higher YPC with the Eagles.

Fournette isn’t as one-dimensional as he’s made out to be—he caught 76 balls in 2019—but he’s also not the imposing playmaker he’s made out to be. He has great name recognition, which helps his reputation, but he’s not the type of player you give up a pick and $4.2 million in salary for one year of control over—that cap space will be valuable to roll over into next offseason.

Beyond that, he’s be better served in an offense that features the running game more prominently, and is more power-oriented. I’m not entirely confident that Fournette’s traits translate as well in our offense—he’s a little too “one-cut” for Doug’s style. Plus, the Howard/Ajayi role is generally 5-10 carries a week, and you really need to pound the rock with Fournette to get him going and maximize his value of wearing down a defense and popping one or two big runs—he won’t get that here.

As an individual player I do like Fournette, but I don’t think he should be an Eagle, and I certainly wouldn’t give up any assets for him. You really can’t put anything past Howie these days, but I don’t see him messing with the ‘Sanders-Scott w/ a sprinkle of Clement/Warren’ committee that projects to be a very solid running back group.