Saquon Barkley’s transformation from expendable in New York to invaluable during Philadelphia’s run to Sunday’s Super Bowl did not happen over the course of just one offseason.
It started four and a half years earlier.
The No. 2 overall draft pick out of Penn State in 2018, Barkley entered 2020 having rushed for at least 1,000 yards in each of his first two NFL seasons. But only 19 attempts into this third, he injured the meniscus and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, his 2020 season over after two games.
Physically, Barkley was healthy enough to start 13 games for the Giants the very next season. Yet players who have suffered ACL injuries often describe the rehab as a multi-year process because mental confidence in the injury often takes far longer to return than physical strength.
For Barkley, that confidence began to click last spring, in the weeks after New York — which had committed $160 million to quarterback Daniel Jones only a year earlier — was hesitant to commit to re-sign Barkley to another expensive contract, allowing him to join Philadelphia as a free agent on a three-year contract worth a reported $37.75 million.
One of Barkley’s first official acts as an Eagle was joining quarterback Jalen Hurts for offseason workouts.
“I know this offseason, a lot of it was the mental strength or confidence from the injury,” Southern Mississippi head coach Charles Huff, who recruited Barkley to Penn State and was his position coach in college, told NBC News. “You talk about an injury, the ACLs, you’re talking nine months of just physical rehab, right? So even that doesn’t get you back to full strength. So I know this year was big for him from that perspective.
“Obviously, I think we all can say he’s back.”
Barkley’s full-circle recovery from his 2020 injuries has allowed him to become only the ninth 2,000-yard rusher in NFL history. Entering Sunday’s Super Bowl matchup against Kansas City, Barkley is 30 yards from breaking Terrell Davis’ 1998 record of 2,447 yards in the regular season and the postseason combined.
“He is motivated when someone or something says, ‘You can’t,’” Huff said. “He is motivated by, you know, ‘I bet you can’t hit this three-pointer.’ ‘Yes, I can.’ It’s not vindictive to prove anyone wrong, it’s more to show you that he can. …
“I haven’t talked to him personally about the New York situation, because I know who he is, so I don’t have to call and say, ‘Well, what happened?’ There was a business side to things. And I don’t think, I don’t know anybody in New York, so … I don’t think anyone made a decision thinking, OK, he’s not a good player or he’s not good or we don’t want him. You know, there’s a business side. But for him, personally, he wants to prove to himself, first, that he is still the best back in the league,” Huff said.
“And for him, it’s more of through actions than through words. OK, if you don’t think I run inside zone well, I’ve got to work on running inside zone. If you don’t think I catch the ball out of the backfield, well, I’m going to work on catching the ball out of the backfield.”
Huff first saw Barkley’s obsession with precision while at Penn State, where Huff would hold competitions in meetings with offensive players over who could diagram plays most accurately. Barkley could nail small details on the greaseboard, from the depth a receiver would break his route, to the protections on the offensive line. Only quarterbacks were technically required to know that level of detail.
“And that was the moment you’re like, ‘OK, this kid gets it,’” Huff said.
Barkley also became engrossed with Kobe Bryant’s obsessive focus after reading Bryant’s 2018 book, “The Mamba Mentality,” Huff said.
But Barkley’s college coach was quick to say that Barkley was not driven by “personal gain,” an assessment that was supported in October, when Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni asked whether Barkley, who was 13 yards shy of his single-game career-high, wanted to re-enter a blowout win against the Giants to set a new career best. Barkley declined, in a moment caught on camera.
“He’s a guy that he hasn’t said it, you know, publicly, but I believe he’s a guy that would rather win the Super Bowl than have the rushing title because the Super Bowl is a team accolade,” Huff said.
“He could care less if he carried the ball every play or no play, as long as the team wins, you know. And I think that’s why he was so affected by the decision that New York made, because he gave a lot for the team, and he gave a lot for the organization and a lot for the city and the community and, you know, just like any of us, when you get those things and you don’t get the return, it’s kind of like, you know, you feel slighted a little bit so, but that’s who he is. He’s extremely humble. He is extremely competitive. He wants to be the best. He will work his tail off to be the best.”
If Barkley spent his last offseason regaining full confidence in his knee, the process may have been made easier by the teammates surrounding him. The Giants’ offensive line was ranked worst in the NFL in 2023 by Pro Football Focus; the Eagles this season ranked No. 1 for a third consecutive season.
Philadelphia rushed for 3,048 yards in the regular season and has averaged 227 rushing yards in the postseason to trail only Baltimore in each category.
The Eagles have “one of the best o-lines, ever,” NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms told The Dan Patrick Show, comparing the Eagles’ offensive line to the 1990s-era Dallas Cowboys that helped back Emmitt Smith become the NFL’s all-time yardage leader. Four-fifths of the Eagles’ line has been honored in some way as among the NFL’s best already. Tackles Lane Jonson and Jordan Mailata each were named second-team all-pro last month. Johnson, guard Landon Dickerson and center Cam Jurgens also were named to the Pro Bowl.
The Giants were not alone last offseason in their reticence to offer a running back a long-term, lucrative contract. But behind Barkley’s one-season resurgence, and bounce-back seasons from other running backs, the market could be altered. It was a historic season, years in the making.
“That’s kind of how football works,” Barkley told reporters this week. “You have guys at a certain position dominate, have great years, and the money just goes up.”
