Panthers free-agent acquisition Miles Sanders is back —he hopes— to being a three-down back. Sanders, now 26, is confident that reuniting with running backs coach Duce Staley, who was a Pederson assistant in Philly, will help him re-emerge as a receiving threat out of the backfield.

Related Players: Chuba Hubbard, Raheem Blackshear

Sanders bottomed out as a pass-catcher in 2022, with new career lows in receptions (20), yards (78), and receptions for first downs (two). He's really got nowhere to go but up after finishing the season, ranking 49th/49 qualifying backs with a 0.28 yards per route run mark. Leaving a team that has a quarterback that is prone to taking off with the ball on third downs should help, but his efficiency marks last year were stark. The good news is, he doesn't have a ton of competition for backfield touches with the way the depth chart is set up at the moment. Sanders is currently ranked as a mid-tier RB2.

Miles Sanders is headed to the Carolina Panthers on a four-year deal. The exact specifics of the contract have not been revealed yet.

(update: the deal is purportedly for $25M over four years, no word on guaranteed money yet.)

Related Players: Chuba Hubbard, D'Onta Foreman

Even with the very good year D'Onta Foreman, this likely closes the possibility of the team re-signing him. Foreman and Sanders would be redundant assets, so for now it looks like a two-headed backfield of Sanders and Chuba Hubbard with Sanders acting as the 1a. It's not a great spot for fantasy purposes but at the least, it offers a veteran presence for their soon-to-be No. 1 quarterback.

The Eagles aren’t done in the backfield: The team agreed to terms on a one-year deal worth about $2 million with RB Boston Scott.

Related Players: Miles Sanders

It would seem —at this point— that the Eagles are going to reload their backfield from 2022 but swap Miles Sanders for Rashaad Penny. We will see what they do during the NFL Draft.

The Eagles have agreed to terms with Seahawks RB Rashaad Penny.

Related Players: Ken Walker, Kenneth Gainwell, Miles Sanders

For the Eagles, this could put a damper on the prospects of Philadelphia re-signing Miles Sanders. Though with Penny's injury history, it's improbable that he will be the only back they add in the offseason.

In Seattle, Ken Walker is setting up for a pure bellcow role with only the likes of DeeJay Dallas, Godwin Igwevuike, etc. sitting behind him.

"Miles Sanders is our No. 1 back! There is no question about it!" Nick Sirianni said.

Sanders is in the final year of his rookie contract. He is motivated to silence doubters. He plays behind one of the best offensive lines in football (second best in run block win rate behind the Kansas City Chiefs) and alongside a quarterback in Jalen Hurts who draws attention in the backfield as a running threat, the story said. It went on to say he's just 25, healthy and in he middle of his prim. Sanders is third in rushing yards (356) through four games behind only Saquon Barkley (463) and Nick Chubb (459), and is averaging 4.9 yards per carry, the story went on to say. He's been a pleasant find for fantasy owners who took a chance on him later in drafts.

Nick Sirianni on his level of concern about Miles Sanders’ hamstring injury:

“Not high.”

The Eagles coach said every player will have some level of participation in practice today.

Related players: Boston Scott, Kenneth Gainwell

Sanders was back at practice last week and looks to be good to go in a nice matchup against Detroit in Week 1. Sanders hasn't really taken off as the team's RB1 but should be in store for a decent volume against the Lions. Scott and Gainwell should also factor in. Sirianni said Gainwell will serve as the team's passing down back while Scott is Sanders' backup.

The former second round pick was the center of trade rumors throughout the preseason, but Trey Sermon would eventually be cut before landing in Philadelphia.

Related Players: Miles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell, Boston Scott

An immediate role may not be available for Sermon, but remember that this same Eagles team just gave Jordan Howard 86 rushing attempts in the year 2021. Eight of those rushing attempts were from within the five-yard line, more than both Miles Sanders and Kenneth Gainwell.

Miles Sanders remains out.

Related players: Boston Scott, Kenneth Gainwell

As the tweet went on to say, he’s been sidelined since Aug. 14. There’s been optimism he’ll be back Week 1, but next week’s practices will be important, Berman went on to say. Scott and Gainwell would likely split the workload if Sanders isn't ready for Week 1.

The Eagles did have lead backs under Doug Peterson -- Ryan Mathews, LeGarrette Blount, Josh Adams and Miles Sanders -- but no one carried the ball more than 179 times in a season (Sanders in 2019). Twice Pederson had three backs with 70 or more carries in a season (2016 and 2017) and twice he had running backs finished third on the team in receptions (2016 and 2019).

Sanders is the only back he had that topped 800 yards rushing in a season, which he did in 2019 and 2020.

So if that’s the philosophy Pederson is bringing to Jacksonville, it’s probably safe to assume that James Robinson won’t match the 240 carries he had as a rookie, and Travis Etienne’s potential workload could look something like Darren Sproles’ output in 2016: 94 rushes and 52 catches.

Robinson is still on his way back from injury and the story said until he's 100 % the team won't push him. So it's safe to assume Etienne will see a majority of the workload early on. But once Robinson is fully back, the story believes Peterson will use the backs much like he has in the past when with the Eagles. However, other reports last week said Robinson will take over as the lead back when healthy with Etienne the change of pace. It seems like Etienne's value will come in PPR leagues if he does land the passing down role, which at least seems to be a common assumption.

Miles Sanders was one of seven Eagles to not participate in join practice with the Browns yesterday, and in his steed, Kenneth Gainwell performed well as the team's RB1.

Related Players: Boston Scott

Gainwell was involved in the passing game during team drills, catching balls, and maybe more notably, picking up a blitz that was "one of the highlights of that period." This comes on the heels of SI.com's John McMullen remarking, "[Gainwell] seems to be penciled in for high-leverage situations like third downs, hurry-up offense, and goal-line work." The Philadelphia sophomore is rounding into a terrific late-round fantasy pick.