Big season could mean big payday for McCoy

LeSean McCoy folded his hands as if in prayer and pointed his eyes toward the sky.

There was a grin, too, an I'm just hamming it up a little bit smirk.

But when a questioner brought up the fact that the Eagles of the last decade-plus have preferred to lock up young, prospering players to contract extensions, the running back held his hands together like a steeple and expectantly shook them.

For so many reasons - not all of them monetary - this is the season for McCoy - the season for the third-year tailback to make the Pro Bowl, to join the elite at his position, to earn that first big payday.

All markers point to it happening. If it weren't for Michael Vick, McCoy would have been the Eagles' MVP a year ago. And with the way the offensive line is currently constructed, he could be looking at a significant boost in touches this season.

For McCoy, though, it's not all about the money. Sure, he wants to get paid. Who doesn't? But the 23-year-old really wants to be great. The Eagles know this about their 2009 second-round draft pick. It's why a November extension - typically when the team looks to the future - could be in the offing.

Of course, an offer could depend on if DeSean Jackson has his new deal. Could the Eagles really extend McCoy, who has two years left on his contract, before their No. 1 wide receiver?

Jackson may have had his extension last year had it not been for the one-year-only 30 percent rule that limited pay increases for players still in their rookie contracts. Instead, he skipped the first 11 days of camp in a sort of protest and is now three days away from entering the final year of his four-year contract without a hint of negotiations over a new one.

"Let me be honest with you. I never want to be in that situation," McCoy said recently. "Everybody's situation is different. [An extension] would be a blessing if that happened because I don't want to go anywhere else or play anywhere else. I love it here. I'm a Pennsylvania guy - from high school to college to here."

Aside from being friends and sharing the same high-profile agent in Drew Rosenhaus, McCoy and Jackson have much different personalities. McCoy is the type of athlete who will unabashedly walk up to a reporter and hug him without reason. Jackson is a little pricklier. Of course, if you want a straight answer, go to Jackson, not McCoy.

Both want to be considered the best, however, and are willing to put in the necessary work. Jackson took a marginal step backward last season in terms of production, some of which can be attributed to his distraction over his contract. McCoy, on the other, enters his third season primed to be mentioned in the same breath as Chris Johnson and Adrian Peterson.

"I feel this is the year I separate myself from all the other backs," said McCoy, a Harrisburg native and University of Pittsburgh product. "You have an elite group of guys. You got the guys that are up and coming, and then you go to the average guys. So I'm trying to get up there with the elite guys, and I think this is the year it happens."

For a number of the great running backs, the third year is the year it happens (e.g. Walter Payton). For a handful for others, they take a slight step back in the third year. Johnson's numbers, for instance, dropped notably last season following his 2,000-yard rushing performance in 2009. He received a slight pay raise from the Titans before last season but didn't get the big-time multiyear extension until last week.

There's also a group of tailbacks who exploded in their first two years only to flame out by season No. 3 (e.g. Bobby Humphrey). McCoy has probably benefited long term by not starting most of his rookie season and by playing in Andy Reid's pass-happy West Coast offense.

Of the top 16 rushers last season, McCoy had the fewest carries (207 totes for 1,080 yards). Among running backs, however, he had 12 more receptions (78 for 592 yards) than the next guy.

McCoy could see both numbers increase. If Vick isn't going to have as much time in the pocket because of a young, patchwork line, McCoy may often be the quarterback's safety valve.

Or maybe Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg actually run the ball a little more than usual in order to protect Vick. Everyone seems to be talking about Howard Mudd's unorthodox pass-protection scheme, but what about the new offensive line coach's zone run blocking?

"That will be good for me," McCoy said. "I'll get to run a little bit, use my speed and actually use my vision with cut-backs because we got the athletic linemen to do it."

Mudd's lines with the Colts had a great deal to do with keeping Peyton Manning from getting sacked, but they also opened holes for four running backs - Marshall Faulk, Edgerrin James, Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai - who had a combined 10 1,000-yard rushing seasons in 13 years.

McCoy has been predicting big numbers this season - 1,300 rushing yards and 85 catches – although a day later he'll say something like, "I'm not a big numbers guy. However it turns out, it turns out."

The same contradiction could be applied to his feelings about getting a contract extension.

"I got a long way before I can talk about contracts," McCoy said. "I got to do the right thing as far as playing well and the [front office] trusting me enough to give a new contract."