The Philadelphia Eagles just turned the NFL upside down by inking star running back Saquon Barkley to a blockbuster three-year, $37.75 million contract with $26 million guaranteed. This earth-shattering deal makes Barkley the highest-paid running back in franchise history and signals a seismic shift in philosophy for an organization known for its financial discipline at the position.
For years, the Eagles took a conservative approach when it came to paying top dollar for running back talents. Under the shrewd guidance of general manager Howie Roseman, Philadelphia consistently fielded top-10 rushing attacks while allocating less than 1% of the team’s total salary cap to the running back room each of the past four seasons.
This frugal strategy flew in the face of NFC East rivals like the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants, who invested over 5% of cap space in their backfields just last year. But by opening up the vault for Barkley, the Eagles are emphatically closing that philosophical divide and ushering in a new big-money era for star rushers in midnight green.
“I think they have some very disciplined principles when it comes to building through the lines,” one executive with experience in the Eagles’ front office texted about the move. “BUT they also have some high-end art-collector tendencies where they will pursue high-end talent and pay premiums as needed.”
And in the eyes of Philadelphia’s decision-makers, Saquon Barkley represents a rare gem – a generational talent worth bankrupting the organization’s conventional fiscal tenets.
The $37.75 Million Splash
The raw numbers around Barkley’s deal are staggering. His three-year, $37.75 million pact dwarfs recent running back contracts like Josh Jacobs’ $12 million per year with Green Bay and the $8 million annual values for Tony Pollard in Dallas and D’Andre Swift in Philadelphia.
More critically, the $26 million in full guarantees for Barkley over the next two seasons blows past the $12.5 million Jacobs received upfront from the Packers. It represents the kind of financial commitment in the running back market usually reserved for top-tier quarterbacks and elite pass rushers.
Prior to Barkley, DeMarco Murray was the last running back to receive a big-money deal from the Eagles when he signed an $18 million contract in 2014. You’d have to go all the way back to 2012 and LeSean McCoy’s $20.76 million extension to find a richer running back investment by Philadelphia’s typical spend-thrift ways.
So why did Roseman and company decide to shred that conservative fundamental now by backing up the Brinks truck for Barkley? The answer lies in the spectacular success of another big-money runner: Christian McCaffrey.
The McCaffrey Ripple Effect
When the San Francisco 49ers traded a mountain of draft capital to the Carolina Panthers for McCaffrey’s services midway through last season, the deal raised eyebrows across the football world. Not only was McCaffrey an injury-riddled investment, he played a position the analytics community had been devaluing for years.
But San Francisco’s bold gambit paid off in spectacular fashion. Despite McCaffrey’s extensive injury history, he stayed relatively healthy, suiting up for 40 games over the past three years. More importantly, he made an absolutely transcendent on-field impact upon arriving in the Bay Area.
Lining up alongside young superstar Deebo Samuel and the creative mind of coach Kyle Shanahan, McCaffrey emerged as one of the league’s truly unstoppable offensive weapons in 2022. The former Stanford star led the NFL in yards from scrimmage (2,023) and total touchdowns (21) while powering the 49ers’ relentless ground attack en route to the NFC Championship game and a Super Bowl appearance.
It was a performance that demonstrated the immense value a versatile, do-it-all running back can provide when properly accentuated by an innovative scheme and surrounding talent. And it clearly caught the eye of the Eagles’ brain trust as they reevaluated their own offensive core this offseason.
A Power Backfield for The Present and Future
As much as McCaffrey’s success reverberated through league circles, it hit particularly close to home for the Eagles, who witnessed the all-purpose dynamo’s talents firsthand twice a year as division rivals. Philadelphia had to be salivating at the prospect of acquiring their own version of that singular offensive weapon.
Enter Saquon Barkley, whose rare combination of size, speed, lateral agility, and pass-catching ability most closely mirrors the matchup nightmare that McCaffrey represents out of the backfield.
“Just his versatility, the size, the speed, the ability to affect the game in the passing game and be a good blocker in pass pro,” one source familiar with Philadelphia’s thinking told Yahoo Sports. “It’s undeniable that a back of those guys’ caliber can be difference-makers.”
At 26 years old, Barkley is just entering his prime after an electrifying start to his NFL career with the Giants. As a rookie in 2018, he led the entire league with 2,028 total yards from scrimmage and scored 15 touchdowns en route to Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. Even last season, which most considered a “down year,” Barkley still rumbled for 1,650 total yards and 10 scores despite facing constant offensive line injuries and inconsistent quarterback play.
Plucking Barkley away from a divisional rival only adds an extra layer of intrigue. The Eagles had to See the doubly demoralizing impact of Barkley tormenting his former Giants teammates twice per season moving forward. As one source put it bluntly: “Philly’s a chip-on-the-shoulder city. Kind of thrive off that.”
But bitter revenge aside, the Eagles legitimately believe Barkley can be a key cog in supercharging their entire offensive attack for the foreseeable future. Imagine the dynamic 1-2 punch he’ll form with emerging superstar quarterback Jalen Hurts in the City of Brotherly Love.
Barkley’s Potent Skill Set Meets Elite Supporting Cast
For all of Barkley’s individual brilliance, the Giants chronically failed to put an adequate supporting cast around him during his tenure in East Rutherford. Whether due to subpar offensive line play, inconsistent quarterback production, or a lack of complementary weapons, Barkley never seemed to play with a full deck around him.
That won’t be a problem in Philadelphia, where Barkley will team up with arguably the NFL’s premier offensive line and a rapidly improving passing game triggered by Hurts’ unique dual-threat talents. Defensive coordinators will certainly have a lot of sleepless nights trying to game plan for an offense featuring the bull-rushing Barkley, the elusive Hurts, and towering pass-catchers like A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
More importantly, Barkley instantly transforms the dynamic of Philadelphia’s entire ground game. Over the past two seasons, the Eagles have deployed more of a running back-by-committee approach with players like Miles Sanders, Boston Scott, and Kenny Gainwell splitting the load.
While admittedly productive—the Eagles finished eighth in the NFL in rushing last year despite not having a 1,000-yard rusher—that multi-headed committee was something of a necessity for the team given the lack of a true bell cow presence.
Barkley emphatically changes that calculus by giving Philadelphia a legitimate superstar workhorse with the ability to shoulder 20+ carries per game and serve as the focal point of the rushing attack. Think of the luxury coaches enjoy when game planning around Barkley’s unique skillset as both a punishing inside runner and big-play receiving threat out of the backfield.
Of course, the Eagles will have to monitor Barkley’s health carefully after several injury-riddled campaigns in New York that have fueled concerns about his long-term viability. But it’s worth noting that over the past three years he’s appeared in 43 games, just three more than McCaffrey—an iron man workload by modern standards for such a physically demanding role.
Philadelphia clearly believes its stout offensive line can help mitigate some of that injury risk for Barkley. And at a $13 million average annual value for a transcendent playmaking talent still in his prime, they view the deal as a calculated gamble well worth the financial commitment.
Legacy-Defining Move for Roseman?
For all of Howie Roseman’s well-earned accolades as one of the sport’s elite team-builders, the bulk of his praise has focused on his canny maneuvering of the draft and salary cap rather than splashy free agent spending. The Barkley megadeal breaks new ground for Roseman in that regard.
At the same time, it also demonstrates an impressive level of self-awareness and adaptability on the GM’s part. Rather than stubbornly clinging to preconceived notions around positional value, Roseman showed the flexibility to evolve his approach in the wake of evidence like McCaffrey’s huge success in San Francisco.
Now the pressure will be on for Barkley to validate that big-money investment by staying healthy and reaching those same prolific levels of all-purpose production. But if he does, it gives the Eagles a legitimate chance at hoisting their second Vince Lombardi Trophy of the Roseman era.
It’s a tantalizing scenario that would only further cement Roseman’s sterling legacy as one of the most brilliant team architects in modern NFL history. For an executive who has already constructed one Super Bowl juggernaut, the chance to build another championship core centered around Hurts and Barkley is the kind of juicy challenge few GMs ever get to chase.
Buckle up, Eagles fans. With this megadeal for Saquon, the good times may just be getting started again in the City of Brotherly Love. An all-out fireworks show looks destined to grace the gridirons of Lincoln Financial Field all through 2023 and beyond.
