Miles Sanders Takes Subtle Shots At Philadelphia Eagles Over Super Bowl Usage, Letting Him Walk As Free Agent

For the first time in his life, Miles Sanders is going to be playing his home football games outside the state of Pennsylvania. He grew up and attended high school near Pittsburgh. He went to Penn State for college. And, the Philadelphia Eagles drafted him in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

But, the Eagles let him walk in free agency and he signed a four-year contract with the Carolina Panthers.

Now, the former Eagle is taking subtle shots at his former team. Specifically, he talked about being underused in the Super Bowl.

The Chiefs defeated the Eagles 38-35. Sanders received seven carries and one target (but didn't record a catch).

Miles Sanders of the Philadelphia Eagles couldn't find much room in the Super Bowl against the Chiefs, but that didn't stop the new Carolina Panthers RB from questioning his usage. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Most of the rushing came from quarterback Jalen Hurts, who ran 15 times in the contest. Backup running backs Kenneth Gainwell (seven carries) and Boston Scott (3 carries) also saw action.

To be fair to the Eagles, Hurts is the only player who did damage on the ground. Sanders, Gainwell and Scott combined for 45 yards on 17 carries. Hurts ran for 70 yards on 15 attempts.

Regardless, Sanders wanted the ball more.

“Last game of the season? For all of the marbles? Everybody can answer that question,” Sanders said when asked if he was disappointed by how he was used in the Super Bowl, according to the Associated Press. “If they put themselves in my shoes, would they be happy? I don’t want to make headlines, if it does, I don’t care.”

Well, he did make some headlines. Including this one.

Every player wants the ball more, so this is no surprise. I found his other comments more interesting.

“I’m in a great mood every day,” Sanders said. “I’m loving who I’m practicing with and who I’m going to war with. And the coaching staff we have is tremendous. They have a lot of experience and knowledge.”

Carolina Panthers RB Miles Sanders took some subtle jabs at his former team, the Philadelphia Eagles, over Super Bowl usage and his lack of contract with the team

Of course, that's fairly standard commentary from a new addition to a team. But combined with some of his comments about the Eagles, it's hard not read it as a bit of a slight.

Reporters asked him if the Super Bowl usage played a role in him leaving.

“I can get into that another day, maybe,” Sanders said. “Maybe you should ask them why I’m moving here.”

Again, this seems like a shot at the Eagles. But, not re-signing Sanders was just good business for the team.

They had a major cap crunch and had to let a lot of good players walk. Spending money on a running back made no financial sense.

Especially after signing Hurts to a massive extension. He does most of the running, anyway. And they replaced Sanders by trading with the Detroit Lions for D'Andre Swift.

Swift has one year remaining on his rookie deal and costs the Eagles less than $2 million against the salary cap.

They'll be in the same position next offseason with Swift, so he probably shouldn't buy any long-term real estate in the Philadelphia area.

Of course Sanders is upset that the Super Bowl runner-up didn't give him the ball much in their biggest game and then didn't make a big offer to bring him back.

But it's hard to argue that they made the wrong decision in either case.