Everyone’s asking if I’m coming back… technically the Saints have the rights to my contract. 🤷🏾♂️I know Eagles fans love a comeback story 😅 but don’t think you’ll get one this time… but I meant what I said 👀
— Malcolm Jenkins (@MalcolmJenkins) December 1, 2022
Could the Philadelphia Eagles swap one former New Orleans Saints safety for another? Again? C.J. Gardner-Johnson has been sidelined by a lacerated kidney and rib injury, prompting Eagles fans on Twitter to lobby for Malcolm Jenkins to make his NFL comeback. Jenkins retired earlier this year with some time left on his contract with the Saints, which he acknowledged is a complicating factor, though the idea of returning to play with a Super Bowl contender should be appealing. This isn’t as simple as Marshawn Lynch un-retiring to re-sign with the Seattle Seahawks in December (he was a free agent at the time).
“Technically the Saints have the rights to my contract,” Jenkins shrugged in a message from his official Twitter account, before adding, “I know Eagles fans love a comeback story, but don’t think you’ll get one this time.”
Odds are better that Jenkins will remain retired while managing his business interests away from football, but you never know. Another issue is that we’re past the annual NFL trade deadline. So if he were to decide to come back and play for the Eagles, he couldn’t be traded to Philadelphia. New Orleans would have to relinquish his contract altogether meaning they wouldn’t get any compensation. They would waive Jenkins and he would sign with the Eagles upon clearing waivers.
From the team’s perspective, why would they allow that? Why let a player who already hung up his cleats suit up for a conference rival who has already gotten their goat in past trades? For goodwill with him? Come on. He would be going back on his word here, and nobody could argue in good faith that the Saints would be wrong to stand in the way.
But this is part of a bigger problem. Will the indignities never cease? It’s bad enough that Sean Payton quit on the Saints and is out here publicly daydreaming about a team-up with Lamar Jackson (who he chose not to draft in 2018, instead trading up for Marcus Davenport, who shouldn’t be re-signed after this season). Now we’ve got Jenkins at least entertaining the idea of suspending his retirement to try and win another Super Bowl ring with the Eagles.
We’ll see if anything happens here, but it’s unlikely this develops further. Stay tuned.
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