Jared Verse briefly believed he had him.
Last Sunday at SoFi Stadium, Verse, the linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams, went at running back Saquon Barkley after losing his blocker in the third quarter. However, he just grabbed air rather than giving his opponent a tackle.
The Philadelphia Eagles standout Barkley was well past defenders and headed for a 72-yard touchdown run when Verse walked off the field. In a 37–20 victory, Barkley finished with 255 yards rushing and two touchdowns in addition to four catches for 47 yards, making it just one of many outstanding moments in the game.
After the game, Verse remarked, “I’ve never seen a running back like that.”
The pace, strength, lateral movement, and vision that the players astonished at that evening are qualities that Philadelphia supporters have become used to throughout the year. With 1,392 yards in 11 games thus far, Barkley is on track to surpass Eric Dickerson’s 1984 record of 2,105 rushing yards in a season. For the 9-2 Eagles, who have fallen short of their Super Bowl dreams in recent years, he appears to be the missing component.
It raises the question, “Why would a team let him go?”
Since Barkley for their division rival in March, that is the question that New York Giants supporters have been asking themselves. And they’re not the only ones who are questioning the CEOs on their team.
While Barkley is a leading candidate for NFL MVP, other veteran ball carriers, like Derrick Henry (whose Baltimore Ravens play the Eagles on Sunday at 4:25 p.m.), Houston s Joe Mixon and Green Bay s Josh Jacobs, are all enjoying career seasons with new franchises.
General managers throughout the league are questioning if the long-held notion that older running backs shouldn’t receive large contracts is still true in light of their success. Are Barkley, Henry, Mixon, and Jacobs anomalies or the beginning of something new?
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It should come as no surprise that teams typically choose to move on following a rookie contract. Players’ bodies experience more wear and tear the longer they stay in the league, increasing the chance of an output decline. This is particularly true at running back, one of the league’s most injury-prone positions.
From the standpoint of fantasy football, ESPN’s Tristan Cockcroft validated the idea prior to the previous season.
Among those who debuted since 2000, running backs experienced a 25.2% decline in PPR points per game, and 37.0% in total PPR points scored, from their age-28 to age-29 seasons, he said. Only 11 running backs have reached their age-28 and 29 seasons since 2010 and the group saw a 16.8% decline in PPR points per game going from ages 26 to 27, 8.4% decline going from 27 to 28 and a 15.3% decline going from 28 to 29.
The Giants, a rebuilding team as it was, didn t want to commit a large part of their salary cap to an aging running back who just a few years ago tore an ACL. They could have signed Barkley to a multiyear deal or franchise-tagged him for $12.1 million. But with many other needs, they chose not to pay their star and allowed him to become a free agent.
In a now-famous episode of HBO s Hard Knocks, New York general manager Joe Schoen told owner John Mara they would let him hit the open market.
In a perfect world I would still like to have him back, Mara said of Barkley. Until we can prove that we can have a decent offense without him …
Quarterback Daniel [Jones] is making a lot of money, Schoen said. We got to figure out if he s the guy, so we got to protect him. We need to put resources there.
Mara later told Schoen that he s going to have a tough time sleeping if Saquon goes to Philadelphia.
Barkley would, in fact, go on to sign with the Eagles on a three-year, $37.75 million deal, and he has been nearly unstoppable. The Giants replaced him with free agent Devin Singletary and rookie Tyron Tracy, but at 2-10 they are among the NFL s worst teams.New York also just released Jones.
Baltimore s Henry, meanwhile, is on a similar trajectory to Barkley s. After eight seasons in Tennessee, Henry, 30, signed a two-year, $16 million deal to join Lamar Jackson and Co.
So far, so good.
Henry leads the NFL in touchdowns (13), ranks No. 2 in yards (1,325) and is a crucial member of the league s most prolific offense.
Behind Barkley and Henry on the rushing leaders list is Jacobs, who signed a four-year, $48 million deal with the Packers after five years with the Las Vegas Raiders. In last week’s game, he had 106 yards rushing and three touchdowns in a huge win against the San Francisco 49ers.
And you can t forget about Mixon, the former Cincinnati Bengals running back who was traded to the Texans in March in exchange for a 2024 seventh-round draft pick. He has put up monster numbers with his new team, ranking in the top 10 in both yards (786) and touchdowns (10) despite having missed multiple games with a high ankle sprain earlier in the year. He has failed to find the end zone in only two games.
I feel great to be appreciated here and to play a big part in what we do, Mixontold NBC Sportsin September. I m [going to] do whatever is asked of me as a player … be the best teammate and leader that I know how to be. I m just happy that I m on this side now.
The immediate success of those running backs, at the very least, makes the decision for teams to pay up on new contracts harder. Ask Giants fans they would back up the Brinks truck for Barkley in a heartbeat.
Barkley says he s thankful for the fresh start.
Me and my family, my fianc e, had a conversation of I think this is a spot where I can kind of rewrite my story. I feel like I can show everyone what type of player that I can be and was meant to be, he said. It s working out right now.
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