Eagles

The Eagles Really Did it, They Signed Saquon Barkley

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Mar 11th, 2024 · 3:05 PM EDT

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The Eagles went and did it:

Former Giants RB Saquon Barkley reached agreement with the Philadelphia Eagles on a three-year, $37.75 million contract that could be worth up to $46.75M and includes $26M fully guaranteed at signing, per sources.

Barkley now beats the franchise tag number and has a maximum… pic.twitter.com/d2TnEWhaQ0

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 11, 2024

🦅🦅

— Saquon Barkley (@saquon) March 11, 2024

Not a terribly-long contract. Saquon just turned 27.

Personally, I am both stunned and intrigued. Stunned because they haven’t spent money on the running back position in almost a full decade, but intrigued because we could be entering a new era here, an era where they actually run the ball and throw it to the tailback as well. Maybe they watched the same film you and I did and realized that instead of “four verticals,” you can simply just run it instead, and not with a dual-threat quarterback, but with a two-time Pro Bowl running back.

Make no mistake, Saquon is legit, and has been since coming back from the injury. 1,242 scrimmage yards last year, 1,650 the year before, which was his second Pro Bowl season. He’s caught 98 passes over the last two seasons and was targeted 136 times, which averages out to about 68 targets per season. The Eagles haven’t thrown the ball to a running back more than 60 times since Miles Sanders’ first year. We’re talking Darren Sproles type of RB catching numbers, even Brian Westbrook if they utilize Saquon in the right way.

That’s what’s curious about this. Kellen Moore is taking over the offense this season and their biggest splash so far is a stud free agent running back. They haven’t done this since DeMarco Murray, and if you watched the Cowboys at all during Moore’s time as OC, Dak was targeting either Zeke or Tony Pollard at Saquon-level rates. That’s in addition to just being a workhorse in general, of course. Barkley was top eight in rushing attempts in both 2022 and 2023, so you’re getting a lot of usage for the money you’re paying,

This was not expected going into the offseason, and maybe it signals a philosophical change and a turning of the corner. Regardless, it makes the Eagles offense that much better than it already was. Would the money have been better spent elsewhere? Maybe, but it’s not an amazing RB draft and D’Andre Swift got a decent amount of money from Chicago.