Veteran free-agent running back Darren Sproles will return to the Philadelphia Eagles for another season, executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman announced Saturday during his post-draft news conference.

Coach Doug Pederson signaled this as a possibility at the owners meeting in March, saying there was mutual interest and calling Sproles "a big part of our team."

Sproles, 34, originally planned to retire after the 2017 season, explaining that his two daughters are "getting to the age that they want their daddy around more." But he tore an ACL and broke a forearm against the New York Giants in September, and decided he didn't want to finish his career on injured reserve.

Speaking of his rigorous rehab in the months since, Roseman called Sproles "a freak" and said the expectation is that he will be ready for Week 1.

The Eagles had interest in potentially adding a back during the draft. The fact that they didn't land one made signing Sproles more of a no-brainer.

Sproles is eighth in career all-purpose yards with 19,155. He has a chance to chase down Steve Smith (19,180), Marshall Faulk (19,190) and Tim Brown (19,682) this season.

He'll be part of a running back rotation in Philadelphia with Jay Ajayi and Corey Clement. The team's leading rusher from 2017, LeGarrette Blount, signed with the Detroit Lions in free agency.