Updated: Friday, 3:59 p.m.
Rodney McLeod will be back with the Eagles in 2019.
The Eagles announced on Thursday night that the team and McLeod have reworked his contract to allow McLeod to return next season after his 2018 season was shortened with an ACL tear in Week 3.
McLeod, 28, was scheduled to have a base salary of $7.5 million in 2019 with a salary cap hit of over $9.9 million. It seemed that without a pay cut, McLeod wouldn't be back. Now, he is. The details of the restructured contract weren't immediately available.
ESPN's Field Yates reports that McLeod's reworked deal creates a good amount of cap space for the Eagles.
Source: Eagles S Rodney McLeod's reworked deal with the Eagles drops his 2019 base salary from $7.5M to $1.5M. In total, the move creates $7.469M in cap space for Philly.— Field Yates (@FieldYates) February 1, 2019
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"It's a very exciting time," McLeod said to the Eagles' website. "Honestly, Philly is where I want to be. I'm glad we were able to get things done and handled early on. I really get to focus more on rehab and getting back out there with the boys and getting back to making plays for the team this year."
After spending his first four NFL seasons with the Rams, McLeod signed with the Eagles before the 2016 season and he has been a very good safety in his three years with the Birds. But in 2018, he hurt his knee in the third game of the season and missed the remainder of the year.
Even though McLeod was injured early in the season, he remained an important part of the team. He was even the guy to carry the ski mask out of the tunnel and pump up his defensive backs before they took the field for some of the most important games of the season, including the playoff run.
In 2019, the Eagles will have their duo of Malcolm Jenkins and McLeod at safety, but also found out they have more depth than originally thought because of Avonte Maddox and Tre Sullivan. Veteran Corey Graham is set to be a free agent and many expect him to retire.
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