Saquon Barkley takeaways: Eagles RB talks retirement, and why he had to 'sit my(self) down'
PHILADELPHIA − For Saquon Barkley, it has been a whirlwind three months since the Eagles won the Super Bowl.
During that time, Barkley and the rest of the Eagles were feted at the parade. He played golf with President Donald Trump and flew on his plane for the team's White House visit. He also was pictured on the cover of Madden NFL 2026 doing his famous backwards hurdle.
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And as Barkley said June 10, after the Eagles concluded spring practices and prepared to adjourn until the start of training camp on July 21, "It's been fun, and I got to do a lot of cool things."
But Barkley also showed that he's serious about the upcoming season as well. Sure, it will be hard to duplicate, or even exceed the 2,005 yards Barkley rushed for in 2024. Add in the 499 yards that Barkley rushed for in the postseason, and Barkley finished with an NFL record 2,504 yards for an entire season, including postseason.
Don't mistake that for Barkley being satisfied. Sure, he took some time off to bask in the glow, but not that much.
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After all, the Eagles last month posted a video of Barkley squatting 585 pounds, and as Barkley put it: "The beauty of it is I don't know how many touches I had, or how many yards. But it doesn't feel like it.
"I feel really good. I feel like I'm entering my prime, so just gotta have the mindset of listening to everyone, buying in to what they want me to do. And whatever I do, try to do it to the best of my ability."
Here, then, are four takeaways from Barkley's offseason and goals for the coming season:
Why Saquon Barkley had to 'sit my ass down'
Barkley had never had a season like 2024 before. In his previous six seasons with the Giants, Barkley played a total of two playoff games.
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Last season, Barkley and the Eagles played 21 games total, not finishing the season until beating the Chiefs 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9. Barkley had 482 total touches, more than one hundred above his previous best.
Barkley is also known as a workout fiend. So he was asked if taking it easy, or easier, during the offseason was hard for him.
"No," he said. "It wasn't hard because everyone that I trust told me, basically, 'sit my ass down for a little bit.' In past years, when I was younger, you think, 'Oh, someone's getting better than me.'
"Or I'm relaxing and I see Derrick Henry running hills, or Christian McCaffrey post something (on social media from a workout). The old me would be like, 'I gotta go, I gotta go.' I still have that competitive nature, but two completely different seasons. So just listen to everyone, and when it's been time to go, I've been going. When it's time to back off, I've been backing off."
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So far, that has worked well for Barkley. He has participated in each of the three spring practices open to the media, in addition to the entire offseason strength and conditioning programs.
"The same, the way I saw him attack last offseason," Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. "You see the same humbleness and the hunger that I saw going into last season. That's Saquon, and that's all the players on this football team. They're working, and we've had a good offseason.
Saquon talks retirement, sort of
Barkley created quite a stir last week when he said on Chris Long's podcast "Green Light with Chris Long" that he could see himself retiring "out of nowhere," then invoking Barry Sanders, who suddenly and unexpectedly retired from the Detroit Lions at age 31 while still at the top of his game.
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Barkley clarified those comments, at least somewhat by saying he doesn't see that happening any time soon.
And if it does happen, Barkley said it won't be because he has lost his passion for the game.
"I don't think I'll ever lose the passion for the game," Barkley said. "The retiring thing, I think that caught a little fire on social media. I don't plan on retiring any time soon. The question was asked of me, and I don't have a set date, or how many years I want to play. I would love to play this game as long as God lets me, and my body lets me, so that's really it."
The Eagles are certainly not counting on that day coming any time soon. Earlier in the spring, they gave Barkley a two-year extension through 2028 worth as much as $41.2 million. That makes Barkley the first running back in NFL history to average more than $20 million per season in salary.
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Ironically, Barkley will be 31 years old that season.
Saquon Barkley #26 of the Philadelphia Eagles catches a touchdown while defended by Darnell Savage #6 of the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first quarter of a game at Lincoln Financial Field on Nov. 3, 2024, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Barkley said he still has a lot he wants to accomplish before that day comes.
"The thing that drives me is the same thing that had been driving me since I was a little kid, and I've said it since I've gotten into the league," Barkley said. "I don't mean it in an arrogant way. I want to be the best running back to ever play, or at least one of the best running backs to ever play.
"That's always been my motivation. I feel like God's blessed me with a unique ability, and put me through a lot of adversity, and that's still going to be my mindset. So the love of the game, wanting to win, and wanting to compete and be great is always going to push me, no matter if we win four (more) Super Bowls."
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Can Saquon Barkley rush for 2,000 yards again?
So, naturally, the question was what can Barkley do for an encore, as in, is it a goal of his to become the first running back in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season more than once?
"Yeah, I think that would be pretty cool," he said.
But Barkley then added that's not what drives him, just like that wasn't what drove him last season when he became the ninth running back in NFL history to accomplish the feat:
"It kind of just happened," Barkley said. "I was able to watch 'A Football Life' about Emmitt Smith, and he was big about writing goals. I'm a big believer in setting goals too.
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"But for me, I kind of just take care of the little things first, and everything else that I want to accomplish − all the things that you have to accomplish to become great, to create your legacy and become a Hall of Fame player − I just try to take care of that, and the rest will take care of itself."
Of course, opposing defenses conceivably will be better prepared to stop Barkley, or at least slow him down. That's what the Chiefs did in the Super Bowl as Barkley had 57 yards on 25 carries. Still, the Eagles did score 40 points.
The Eagles still have the same offensive weapons to take advantage of teams keying on Barkley, with Jalen Hurts at quarterback and receivers A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert, and one of the top offensive lines in the NFL.
"They have to pick their poison," Hurts said about defenses loading up on Barkley. "It's just a matter of going out there and executing. We gotta make sure we're in a good position to do what we're going to do. And when someone gets the opportunity to make something happen, make it happen."
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Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl. Read his coverage of the Eagles' championship season in 'Flying High,' a new hardcover coffee-table book from Delaware Online/The News Journal. Details at Fly.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Saquon Barkley takeaways: Eagles RB on retiring, repeating 2,000 yards
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