Eagles Need A Bounce Back Season From Saquon Barkley

PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles’ tepid passing game gets most of the headlines, but the once historic running game is the bigger hurdle en route to overall offensive efficiency under new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion.

When the Eagles rewarded Saquon Barkley with a proactive two-year, $41.2 million extension in March of 2025 – making the superstar running back the highest-paid in NFL history with $36 million fully guaranteed — it felt unnecessary.

Fresh off the greatest rushing season in NFL history (2,504 rushing yards through a Super Bowl LIX championship while earning NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors), the stipend seemed like a thank you more than a projection on Barkley moving forward.

That said, it’s fair to surmise that the Eagles did regard Barkley as one of the cornerstones for a perennial contender.

Fast-forward to the end of a disappointing 2025 regular season, and the numbers on the back of Barkley's trading card revealed a declining player. He carried the football 280 times for 1,140 yards and seven touchdowns, solid for the average back but a massive downgrade from Barkley’s record-setting 2024 campaign.

The issues weren’t all on Barkley, of course.

The offensive line struggled at times, and the Eagles’ offense as a whole looked stagnant in stretches. But when your franchise running back — the guy you just paid like a superstar — drops from 5.8 yards per carry and 125 rushing yards per game to 4.1 and 71, it raises legitimate questions.

At 29 years old with heavy mileage and tread off the tires (346 touches in 2025 after a mind-numbing 482 the year prior), Barkley is approaching 30, where regression is the rule.

Make Or Break

Running back Saquon Barkley answers reporters' questions in the days leading up to the Eagles' home playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers. | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

The 2026 season could be make-or-break for Barkley and the foundational pieces for this incarnation of the Eagles offense.

With Barkley, his contract structure is revealing. While the Penn State product is locked in through 2028 on paper, the bulk of his guarantees are done after this season, meaning 2026 is potentially Barkley’s last in Philadelphia if he can’t return to form.

Barkley himself has never lacked confidence in his abilities or the work ethic to unwrap his enormous physical gifts.

The belief in the Jefferson Health Training Complex is that the talent is still there, with Barkley still possessing the burst and vision to make a difference.

However, Barkley’s receiving skills and pass protection acumen have long been embellished.

The goal of getting Jalen Hurts under center more is just as much about giving Barkley options with the ground game as well as the play-action passing game.

A 2026 bounce back for Barkley— think 1,500-plus rushing yards, 5.0 yards per carry, and double-digit touchdowns — puts the Eagles right back in the NFC title conversation. Another 1,100-yard slog, though, will foreshadow change next spring.

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