Saquon Barkley said all the right things about this just being another game, but his performance said otherwise, and the star running back sent his former team a loud, resounding message.
Philadelphia dominated the New York Giants on Sunday, ending with a 28-3 win.
During his return to MetLife Stadium as an Eagles player, Barkley logged 17 carries for 176 yards (10.4 avg) and one touchdown on the afternoon. Barkley finished 14 yards shy of his career-high yards in a game and placed himself firmly back into the race for the NFL rushing title and the league’s Offensive Player of the Year award.
💚 Brotherly Love
Saquon Barkley done with a season high 176 yards rushing – only 14 yards shy of his career highpic.twitter.com/LNP1Qe0H8d
— Jeff Skversky (@JeffSkversky) October 20, 2024
During free agency, Giants senior vice president of football operations and strategy Kevin Abrams, who was seen on camera, raised doubt about any team (Eagles) being willing to pay Barkley the tag cost of $12 million (minus any money paid by the Giants to facilitate a deal) and give up a draft pick in a trade.
Schoen then questioned if it was worth having a 27-year-old running back earn $12 million per season with so many pressing needs at other positions.
Barkley is one of five NFL players with 5,000+ rushing yards (5,211) and 2,000+ receiving yards (2,100) since 2018, joining Ezekiel Elliott, Aaron Jones, Alvin Kamara, and Christian McCaffrey, and he’s made Philadelphia one of the most explosive teams in the NFL.
