Saquon Barkley On The Verge Of Capping Off History Making Season

Nearly 11 months ago, the Philadelphia Eagles made a blockbuster free agency move, signing former New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley to a three-year contract. It was an incredible deal for the Eagles as not only did they pry away an incredible player from a division rival, but they also acquired a star running back, a position in which the franchise has lacked a true game-changer since LeSean McCoy. However, people had pushed back against the signing.

Everyone knew that Barkley was a star player when he was on the field, recording over 5,000 yards on the ground, over 2,000 in the air, and 47 total touchdowns. The keyword to that is when he was on the field. Barkley had previously suffered multiple ankle injuries throughout his career as well as an ACL tear during the 2020 season which caused him to miss nearly the entirety of the season.

People then brought up former Eagle DeMarco Murray. The team signed Murray back in 2015 to a five-year, $42 million deal after an 1800-yard, 13-touchdown season with the Eagles’ other division rival the Dallas Cowboys. After back-to-back winning seasons under head coach Chip Kelly, the franchise believed that they had their next star tailback. However, this soon proved to be a fatal mistake.

Murray only lasted one season in Philadelphia, recording 702 rushing yards and six touchdowns. He had lost a step and the once-star player had looked like a shell of his former self. After that season Kelly was fired and the team went into a somewhat rebuild by trading Murray and a fourth-round pick to the Tennessee Titans for a fourth-round pick.

Since Murray’s departure, the Eagles have been hesitant to sign big-name running backs in free agency, sticking to either drafting players like Miles Sanders or acquiring ones on cheap deals like Jay Ajayi, LeGarrette Blount, and D’Andre Swift. Fans were uncertain that they wanted to see a running back sign a long-term deal as they felt that doing so would throw off the Eagles’ plans for the future. This strategy helped the Eagles keep and acquire core players over the years as they felt that running backs were a diamond dozen and could be replaced very easily.

Despite having these concerns, the Eagles decided to go for it. Coming off a Super Bowl loss in the 2022 season, and an embarrassing end-of-season collapse in 2023, Philadelphia decided to give Barkley the highest-earning contract for a running back in NFL history. They felt that Barkley behind the Eagles’ stellar offensive line, could unlock his true potential as a pro, and people quickly realized that that was true.

In his first game as an Eagle, Barkley recorded three touchdowns leading the Eagles to a Week 1 victory in Brazail over the Green Bay Packers. As the season went on, Barkley continued to shine racking, up multiple multi-touchdown and 100+ yard rushing performances.

In Week 12 in a game against the Los Angeles Rams, Barkley rushed for a career and Eagles franchise-high 255 yards, putting on one of the greatest rushing games in NFL history. After that game, the talk about Barkley potentially beating Eric Dickerson‘s single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards, began to gain steam.

As the season went on Barkley continued to inch closer to Dickerson, eventually passing 2,000 yards in a Week 17 win over the Dallas Cowboys. Barkley became the ninth player in NFL history and the first Eagles player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. With one game left in the season, against his former team no less, the Eagles had nothing to play for as they were already locked into the No. 2 seed, because of this Barkley and the majority of starters opted to rest, ending his chances to break Dickerson’s record.

Fans were upset with the decision for Barkley to miss out on history, but throughout the season Barkley preached that while records are a great accolade, he came to Philadelphia to win championships, and opting out and being healthy for the playoffs was a much bigger priority.

In the playoffs, Barkley has continued to dominate the completion, rushing 115 yards or more in all three games. He did not find the endzone in the Wild Card matchup against the Packers but in the divisional round against the Rams, Barkley showed he was built for the bright lights. Barkley rushed for 205 yards, setting an Eagles postseason record, and two 60+-yard touchdowns, the second one ended up being the game-winning score.

In the NFC Championship, he followed up that performance with a three-touchdown, 118-yard game, where Barkley scored a 60-yard score on the Eagles’ first offensive play. He currently sits at 442 rushing yards this postseason, and 2447 on the season combined. He’s 30 yards away from the most rushing yards in an NFL season (regular season and postseason), 53 yards away from the first 2,500 rushing yard season, and 169 rushing yards away from the most rushing yards in a postseason. All of these records can very easily be done in the Super Bowl.

Barkley is also the odds-on favorite to be named the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year at the NFL Honors right before the Super Bowl. A Super Bowl win could cap off quite possibly the greatest season from a running back in NFL history. Despite being in Philadelphia for only one season so far, Barkley is already making a name for himself and could fully cement his name in Eagles history with a win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.

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