Saquon Barkley a player the Philadelphia Eagles should sign? These are the benefits and drawbacks.
The Philadelphia Eagles have a ton of holes on their roster to fill as they head into NFL free agency.
Two of the team’s 2023 running backs, D’Andre Swift and Boston Scott, will be available as free agents when the new league year begins on Wednesday, March 13.
Saquon Barkley of the New York Giants is the best running back in a deep free agency class that also includes Josh Jacobs, Derrick Henry, Austin Ekeler, Tony Pollard, and others. Recently, speculations linking the Eagles to Barkley have surfaced.
Barkley’s interest in the Eagles is reportedly “mutual.”
Does Barkley’s prospective big-time deal request from the Eagles make sense, though? Howie Roseman, the general manager, hasn’t traditionally spent a lot of money on running backs, but with more budget space available, perhaps he takes a risk.
Barkley could get closer to home if he drove down I-95 south to Philadelphia. He was a football player at Lehigh Valley’s Whitehall High School before becoming a success at Penn State.
Does Barkley’s signing by the Eagles make sense? Let’s review the benefits and drawbacks below.
The Eagles would be acquiring one of the finest players in the game and one of the most gifted running backs in the NFL if they signed Barkley.
The 27-year-old Barkley is a reliable three-down back with the ability to go between tackles and catch passes coming out of the backfield. Barkley rushed for 962 yards last season in 14 games with the Giants (3.9 yards per run) and hauled in 41 receptions for 280 yards and 10 touchdowns overall.
Barkley has 288 receptions and 2,100 receiving yards since joining the league in 2018, both of which place him among the top five running backs according to StatMuse. He would be the Eagles’ greatest rushing back since LeSean McCoy and a game-changer.
Barkley is still a serious threat to catch passes for opposing defenses, even though his receiving numbers have decreased from his first two NFL seasons.
While D’Andre Swift and Miles Sanders, two former Eagles running backs, did a good job in their jobs, Barkley is a class above and among the best in the NFL.
It would be a nightmare for opponents to match Barkley with quarterback Jalen Hurts in the running game. Because of Hurts’ injury and a stale offense, the Eagles’ quarterback running game wasn’t as successful as it had been in prior years, but Barkley’s arrival might invigorate the offensive.
Barkley would be playing behind one of the top offensive lines in the league even with Jason Kelce retired.
With an unspectacular bunch of receivers and quarterback Daniel Jones—hell, even Tommy DeVito—Barkley has demonstrated that he can compete on lower teams.
Put him in a skill position group with Dallas Goedert, DeVonta Smith, and A.J. Brown.
In today’s NFL, signing Barkley to a high-priced, potentially long-term contract is typically not a smart business move.
Even with Barkley’s potential brilliance, the Eagles might just wait for the market to present itself so they can sign another gifted running back for a significantly lower cost and yet receive a comparable level of production. or even select an NFL draft tailback.
The Eagles need to fill far too many deficiencies, particularly on defense, for Barkley to be given a significant contract in free agency. According to Spotrac, Barkley will sign a free agency contract worth $29.9 million for three years. The likelihood is that the Birds won’t do it if that’s the cost. For a year, perhaps? Even still, that would be a significant amount to pay for a running back. Barkley probably wants a longer-term deal, but he was never able to work out a deal with the Giants.
Paying Barkley would represent a philosophical shift for Roseman in terms of team development, given the Eagles’ running back room as a whole hasn’t accounted for more than $5.2 million in cap space each year since the 2020 season, according to Spotrac. The previous year, the Eagles let
