Several running backs quickly landed free agent deals this offseason, including Saquon Barkley. The six-year Giant joined the Eagles on a deal featuring $26MM fully guaranteed. Lucrative investments at the position are rare in large part due to the risk of injury and the drop in performance seen as running backs age. 
Barkley is entering his age-27 season, a point where many backs struggle to land long-term commitments. The former Offensive Rookie of the Year’s resume also includes a number of injuries, adding to the risk incurred by the Eagles in signing him. Barkley is confident, however, that he will be able to remain productive well into the second chapter of his NFL tenure.
“Marcus Allen played until he was 36, 37 years old,” the former No. 2 pick said (via EJ Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer). “Barry [Sanders] left at 29, 30 and he left in his prime. It’s what you put in, what you put in is what you get out. That’s any position. There’s this weird thing with running backs right now. Is it a difficult position to play? Yes. Do you take wear and tear? Yes. But who are you or anyone else to tell me how long I can play the game? I call [BS].
“When it’s over for me, it’s over for me. But I feel like if I continue to put the right stuff in my body and do the right things, there will be a day when I’m 32 or 33 and I want to hang it up, and I’m going to do it just because.”
Barkley will be counted on to handle a large workload with the Eagles as their lead back, although the team’s skill position group should lower his usage relative to his Giants tenure. The Penn State product voiced a desire to finish his career in New York, but an offer similar in value to Philadelphia’s did not emerge this offseason. Barkley – who is under contract through 2026 – will need to remain healthy for his Eagles tenure to be productive. After an ACL tear and multiple ankle sprains, questions have been raised about his durability. Barkley does not attribute those to poor conditioning, though, so further injury issues are not a concern on his part.
“I’ve been trying to control everything,” he added. “Like, ‘I have to do this so I won’t get hurt.’ I can’t control that. My three or four injuries I’ve had in the NFL are flukes. There was nothing I could do to change them.”
Plenty of attention will be placed on Barkley’s Philadelphia tenure and his overall longevity. If he manages to produce as expected, his addition will prove to be an effective one from the team’s perspective while allowing him to enjoy a strong second phase in his career.
I liked Saquon in NY. He had a good attitude and approach, said the right things when things were going poorly. He was fun to watch. But he got himself into a bad stance last year on the money thing and that only carried forward to this year.
Frank Gore also played forever, from his examples, but you can’t have “three or four fluke injuries”. One injury can be a fluke. 3 or 4 = injury prone. For that reason, I defend the Giants moving on and think the Eagles took on a risk. A healthy Saquon is well worth the $ the Eagles put out for him but the odds of that happening are pretty low.
I can’t wish the guy too much luck as a Giants’ fan and I have to suffer through another year of Daniel Jones as a result of their choices, I can hope that he stays healthy and has bad games causing losses versus the NYG….and hope he has huge games against Dallas.
Going off topic here but is online therapy available for a regular forum member who has a Belichick obsession and one who can’t resist posting 500 word comments? Asking for some friends…lol.
Trade Rumors is actively running BetterHelp ads so…
I like the eclectic collection of characters we have in this forum. Perhaps some could benefit from a bit of therapy but it would probably be wasted on long time Bears fans like myself 🙂
I like Saquon and hope he can have a healthy path forward, but he’s already missed more than three times as many games as Barry Sanders missed in his whole career. Comparing himself to some of the greatest and most durable backs of all time is a teensy bit wishful.
Taking the over in tds, 6.5, and the under in rushing yards, 975.5