From the Giants to the Eagles: Saquon Barkley’s Journey to Super Bowl Champion

NEW ORLEANS — Before Saquon Barkley was lifting the Lombardi Trophy, before he was rewriting NFL records, and before he became the face of the Eagles’ championship run, there was a meeting.

It was early 2023. Philadelphia’s front office was deep in planning mode at the NovaCare Complex, thinking about how to build on a team that was already days away from playing in the Super Bowl.

One name came up.

Saquon Barkley.

The star running back had spent his entire career with the New York Giants, a division rival the Eagles knew all too well. They had mostly bottled him up over the years—Barkley hadn’t cracked 100 yards against them since his rookie season—but they also knew what he was capable of.

“You don’t find guys like him often,” said one Eagles executive. “You get a shot at a player like that, and you take it.”

But Barkley wasn’t available yet. The Giants put the franchise tag on him, and the Eagles moved on. That year, the season ended in disaster—what started as a promising run turned into a late-season collapse, full of tension between quarterback Jalen Hurts and head coach Nick Sirianni. Philadelphia knew something had to change.

And in early 2024, they finally got their guy.

Breaking the Rules for a Game-Changer

For years, the Eagles avoided spending big money on running backs. The last time they made a serious investment in one, it backfired—DeMarco Murray got a big contract in 2015, played one forgettable season, and was gone.

But Barkley wasn’t just another running back. He was a generational talent, someone who could take their offense to another level.

So when free agency opened in March 2024, the Eagles didn’t hesitate. They locked him up with a three-year, $37 million deal, breaking their usual philosophy for one simple reason—Barkley was worth it.

Eleven months later, that decision led to a 40-22 win over the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, with Barkley playing a key role.

He didn’t have a monster stat line that night—57 rushing yards on 25 carries—but his presence alone changed the game. Defenses had to respect him, and that opened up everything else.

“We knew they’d focus on stopping the run,” Barkley said after the game. “That gave us chances in the passing game. Jalen stepped up, and we just made it happen. This was a full-team effort.”

For the Eagles, the excitement around Barkley never faded from the day he signed. Even offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, who has seen plenty of elite backs in his career, knew this was different.

“When I heard the news,” Stoutland said, “I thought, ‘Holy cow. This is going to be special.'”

Proving Everyone Wrong

Inside the Eagles’ facility, Barkley’s arrival was celebrated. Running backs coach Jemal Singleton was introducing himself to people as “Saquon Barkley’s coach” the day the signing was announced.

Outside of Philly? There were plenty of skeptics.

The NFL had been moving away from investing in running backs. The position had become undervalued, with franchise tags for RBs being barely higher than those of kickers and punters.

And the Giants? They were one of those teams that saw Barkley as replaceable. Their general manager, Joe Schoen, made it clear during an episode of Hard Knocks:

“We’ve got to fix the offensive line, and we’re paying [Daniel Jones] $40 million. You don’t do that to hand the ball off to a $12 million running back.”

Fast forward a year, and that decision didn’t look so great. The Giants finished with just three wins, benched Daniel Jones midway through the season, and eventually cut him.

Meanwhile, Barkley was thriving in Philadelphia.

A Season for the History Books

From the moment the Eagles put him in their offense, Barkley looked unstoppable. Running behind one of the best offensive lines in football, he put up MVP-level numbers and won the NFL rushing title.

Some of his best performances:

• Week 3: 147 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Saints.
• Week 7: 176 yards against his former team, the Giants, in his first game back at MetLife.
• Week 12: 255 yards and 2 TDs against the Rams, one of the most dominant rushing performances of the decade.
• Divisional Round: 205 yards against the Rams again, proving the first game wasn’t a fluke.
• NFC Championship Game: A 60-yard touchdown on the first play against Washington, where he shook three defenders like it was a backyard game.

That last play? It crushed Washington’s game plan before they even had a chance.

“They wanted to keep him in check,” one scout said. “But Saquon doesn’t play by their rules. He does what he wants.”

Source: Saquon Barkley, the Eagles and a win for NFL running backs

What’s Next for Barkley and the NFL?

Barkley isn’t going anywhere—at least not for now. His contract structure almost guarantees he’ll be an Eagle for two more seasons, with a $9.8 million option bonus in 2025 and $14 million due in 2026.

Some in the league believe the Eagles will try to extend him by a year or two, giving him more money up front while protecting themselves from long-term risk.

“Philly is smart,” one NFL executive said. “They’ll try to add another year or two and keep him happy without going overboard.”

But the bigger impact? Barkley changed the conversation about running backs in the NFL.

For the past few years, the league had been moving away from valuing the position. But in 2024, five running backs topped 1,400 yards—a sign that teams were leaning back into the ground game.

Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton summed it up best:

“Running backs felt disrespected. And they played angry this year.”

That could mean bigger paydays for guys like Aaron Jones, J.K. Dobbins, and Najee Harris, who are hitting free agency soon. And in the draft? Ashton Jeanty, a 2024 Heisman finalist, is now projected as a top-10 pick—something unheard of for a running back in recent years.

More Than Just a One-Year Story

Some might think Barkley’s magical 2024 season was a one-off. That he’ll slow down, that the Eagles will move on, that running backs will go back to being an afterthought.

But that’s not what history tells us.

Great running backs don’t just fade away. They change games, change teams, and change the way the league looks at the position.

And if there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past year, it’s this:

Betting against Saquon Barkley is a losing game.

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