Should Saquon Barkley, Eagles starters play vs. Giants on Sunday?

The Eagles are the NFC East champions, have locked up the No. 2 seed in the NFC, and have no shot at the No. 1 seed.

However, they still have one more game to play against the Giants on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.

With this game meaning absolutely nothing, should the Eagles play their starters in Week 18 or essentially give them a bye going into the Wild Card round next weekend?

“Still not there,” Nick Sirianni said on Monday afternoon about whether he is going to rest his starters. “And then, I gave the players off today. They’ll be back in, in a couple days. By the next time I talk to [the reporters], they’ll be back in. I’ll always inform them before I inform anybody else. 

“I know you guys are going to want that answer as soon as you guys can get it. I’ll try to help you guys do your job as much as I possibly can but I’ll always inform our players of things first. Still sorting through things right now at this particular moment.”

So, Sirianni has not made up his mind. But I have.

The Eagles have played a game in 12 straight weeks and will be hosting either the Packers or Commanders in the first round of the playoffs next weekend.

Want to go on a deep playoff run with your guys rested and fully fueled up to go? Rest your starters. This is about a Super Bowl.

Of course, there is some temptation to throw Saquon Barkley out there, as he is only 101 yards away from breaking Eric Dickerson’s long-lasting single-season rushing record. Many Eagles offensive starters said on Sunday evening that they want to play in Week 18 to go for the record.

But this group and fanbase have loftier goals than an individual record in the regular season. 

Another thing is it took Barkley over 20 rushes to get to 100 yards vs. Dallas on Sunday. I just think there is too much risk involved there.

I would like to see Jalen Hurts for a few series, though. Hurts has not played since the first quarter of the Commanders game two weeks ago when he suffered a concussion. If Hurts is out of protocol, it is beneficial to have him out there and dust some rust off before the postseason. Cannot have your quarterback off for basically three weeks and then throw him into a playoff game.

With how the Eagles typically handle these circumstances, they will most likely rest their starters, or at least get them out of Sunday’s game early. These would lead to valuable reps for their backups, which help the team from an evaluation standpoint going into next season.

Would it be great for Barkley to get the record against the Giants with Tiki Barber on the call for CBS? Absolutely.

But is it better to be safe rather than sorry, and possibly provide the Giants a worse draft pick? I think so.

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