Commentary: When the rest of the NFL fumbled, the Eagles scooped up Saquon Barkley
WASHINGTON, D.C. – You really haven’t seen a bargain until you watch one take a backward leap to hurdle a human being. Saquon Barkley, a 2,000-yard wonder and creator of inconceivable feats, is the personification of a damn good deal.
He doesn’t rank among the top 10 highest-paid Philadelphia Eagles. He sits 11th, in both total contract value and average annual salary, making him their on-field MVP and their greatest free-agency heist. In March, it was clear the Eagles had taken the directionless New York Giants’ most valuable asset for a good price when they signed Barkley to a three-year, $37.8 million deal. In one season, the move has graduated to a historically great acquisition.
For the Washington Commanders to take their fabulous turnaround all the way to the Super Bowl, they must keep Barkley from adding the NFC championship game to his spectacular portfolio. It’s a frightening mission, even though they’re familiar with their longtime divisional nemesis. In rushing for 2,005 yards and 13 touchdowns during the regular season, Barkley surpassed 100 yards in 11 of 16 regular-season games before he sat out the finale. In two playoff victories, he has been even better: 324 yards and two touchdowns combined, including his 205-yard masterpiece in the snow last week against the Los Angeles Rams.
To re-emphasize the threat he poses, I’ll borrow from one of coach Dan Quinn’s mantras for Washington: Barkley, the NFL’s preeminent big-play running back, can score on anybody, anywhere, anytime.
Barkley stands as the utmost outlier in a league that compels teams to take hard stances on positional value to manage an inflexible salary cap. That’s why the Giants allowed him to flee to Philadelphia. They knew he was their most important weapon, but they couldn’t get past preconceived notions about the modern, textbook way to retool a deficient roster.
In the offseason special of the HBO franchise “Hard Knocks,” the Giants anticipated their regret during a conversation between general manager Joe Schoen and owner John Mara.
“I might have a tough time sleeping if Saquon goes to Philadelphia, I’ll tell you that, as I’ve told you,” Mara said for the world to see. “Just being honest.”
I have this image of Mara, walking through the house in his pajamas at night, staring at an old picture he took with Barkley.
It was an egregious miscalculation because the Giants had six years to get to know Barkley. They watched him rush for at least 1,000 yards in three seasons and play the role of versatile playmaker – runner, receiver, the ultimate quarterback confidant – when healthy. They helped him recover from injuries, and they spent significant time haggling over contract proposals and debating whether to retain him with the franchise tag. In the end, they let a 27-year-old showstopper hit the open market and sign a contract that didn’t even reset the market for running backs.
Barkley is the third-highest-paid tailback in the league, behind the San Francisco 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey and the Indianapolis Colts’ Jonathan Taylor. At just less than $12.6 million per season, Barkley makes what 85% of the NFL should have been doing salary cap gymnastics to offer him. Two victories away from a Super Bowl championship, the Eagles have a chance to kiss the Lombardi Trophy while their peers are left to congratulate themselves for tidy bookkeeping.
It’s popular to say the Giants were fleeced. It’s better to say the entire NFL fumbled and the Eagles ended up with the easiest possible scoop and score.
Entering this season, Barkley had two years of encouraging health after ACL and ankle injuries limited him from 2019 to 2021. It was careless to label him as just another injured runner without considering how he has evolved from a reckless newcomer to a veteran who appreciates every detail of the game. He takes care of his body better. He runs smarter. He knows himself now.
It’s funny. Now that he understands he doesn’t need to do something spectacular every time he touches the ball, he actually puts on a show with greater frequency behind Philadelphia’s terrific offensive line. He concentrates on patience and vision, reserving his best displays of speed, strength and agility to make that last would-be tackler miss in the open field.
Before Barkley arrived, the Eagles were a good team that went to the Super Bowl two years ago and lost a thriller to Kansas City. They have Jalen Hurts, a $50 million quarterback who finished second in MVP voting in 2022. They have wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, a marquee tandem. In addition to their top-10 offense, their defense allowed the fewest yards in the league. Six Eagles made the Pro Bowl. But despite all that talent and balance, despite all their previous success under coach Nick Sirianni, they rely heavily on Barkley.
It’s quarterback-level dependence. For a team with fragile chemistry, an unorthodox star quarterback and a fickle offensive style of play, Barkley is the stabilizer. He brings sanity to a football-mad city, an unassailable source of positivity amid the pressure the Eagles feel to win a Super Bowl.
His impact connects to an ongoing conversation about the value of the running back. Has Barkley advanced the ball for his position group? When it’s time for the Lions’ Jahmyr Gibbs and the Falcons’ Bijan Robinson to receive new contracts, will they get paid? Or will the once-essential position, which ranks 10th among 11 franchise-tag designations (above only special teamers), continue to see even the best players treated as replaceable?
But it’s the wrong way to think about Barkley. The question for him and the few game-changing backs lingering out there shouldn’t be whether lumping them in with the rest of the group will help all mortals who tote the football. The pursuit is a far greater and more complicated one. Will any running back inspire NFL teams to look at exceptional players without such a myopic, formulaic view?
Consider that 40 other skill-position players who aren’t quarterbacks – 31 wide receivers, seven tight ends and the two aforementioned running backs – have higher annual salaries than Barkley. Yet he’s the most productive nonquarterback offensive player this season. He’s the lone MVP candidate to crash the quarterback-only affair, too. He has been the most underpaid veteran star in American sports.
Maybe the Eagles will reward him after this run ends. More likely, they will do the responsible financial thing and wait another season to extend him, just before of the final year of his contract begins. And, sure, there’s always risk involved. McCaffrey, who had a similar impact after joining a well-stocked 49ers roster, played just four games because of injury after signing a two-year, top-of-market extension in June. But he deserved it. And you saw how vulnerable the 49ers were without his running and receiving skills.
Soon, Barkley will attempt to be seen as an extraordinary sensation rather than some weathered running back churning toward the cliff age of 30. For now, he’ll settle for being one electrifying, preposterous bargain.