On Wednesday Malcolm Jenkins, the vocal leader of the only Super Bowl-winning team in Eagles history, announced his retirement from the NFL after splitting 13 seasons between the Birds and the Saints.
In March of 2014, all Eagles fans were pounding their fists on the table for their team to grab Jairus Byrd, but the team lost out on the Byrd sweepstakes and ended up with Malcolm Jenkins instead. PFF graded him second-to-last among all safeties in 2013, which resulted in fans feeling disappointed in the move. Boy were we all wrong about this move.
Jenkins went on to play 96 regular season games with the Eagles, earning three Pro Bowl selections while registering 515 tackles (32 tackles for loss), 11 interceptions (four pick-sixes), 58 passes defended, 12 forced fumbles, 5.5 sacks, and 15 QB hits. He played 6,818/6,909 (98%) of his possible defensive snaps in his Eagles career, with 2,484 consecutive snaps before he signed with the Saints in 2020. It's unheard of for a player playing a physical position like safety to have an ironman streak like that.
Most importantly, Jenkins stepped up to provide a bone-crushing legal hit on Brandin Cooks in Super Bowl LII and was a key piece to helping the Eagles win their only Lombardi Trophy.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie had high praise for Jenkins after his retirement was announced.
His numbers give him sort argument to be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but he'll have a high road to climb to reach the pinnacle of football. However, there is no question at all that Jenkins will one day be added as a member of the Eagles Hall of Fame. As of now, he is remembered as the second-best safety in the history of the Philadelphia Eagles
