Saquon Barkley isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
The Eagles agreed to terms on Tuesday with the star running back on a two-year contract extension, league sources confirmed to The Inquirer, with an average annual value of more than $20 million. The extension will make him the highest-paid running back in NFL history on a yearly basis.
According to ESPN, the two-year extension is valued at $41.2 million and includes $36 million fully guaranteed, a hefty reward on the heels of a standout season in which Barkley set the single-season franchise record for rushing yards.
“Overflow!” Barkley wrote in a post on X. “Grateful for the Eagles Organization, grateful for my team, grateful for the amazing fans in Philly. Fly Eagles Fly.”
The decision to extend the contract for the 28-year-old Barkley comes less than a year after he departed the NFC East rival New York Giants in free agency and signed a three-year, $37.75 million deal with the Eagles that initially ran through 2026. Barkley, a native of Whitehall, Pa., went on to have one of the best seasons for a running back in NFL history and was a key piece to the Eagles’ offensive success in their Super Bowl-winning season.
The featured back in the league’s most prolific rushing offense, Barkley finished the season with a franchise-best 2,005 rushing yards in 16 regular-season games. He earned the Associated Press offensive player of the year award for the first time in his career. In addition to finishing as a finalist for the AP most valuable player award, Barkley garnered first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors.
Barkley fell just short of Eric Dickerson’s NFL single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards set in 1984. However, the former Penn State star set the league’s rushing record for a season including playoff games, besting Terrell Davis’ previous high (2,476 yards in 1998) by collecting 2,504 between the regular season and postseason.
After six seasons with the Giants in which he played in just two postseason games, Barkley reached his full potential in his first year with the Eagles. He made a number of highlight-reel plays in the regular season and the playoffs, including seven rushing touchdowns that exceeded 60 yards — the most in a season in NFL history. Three of those touchdowns came in the postseason.
“A huge, huge player and person for this team,” Howie Roseman said of Barkley in February. “No, not a hard trigger to pull [to sign Barkley last year]. I think I’m being consistent with what I said in March. Was extremely confident in the player and the person. I’d like to say he’s exceeded expectations, but he’s always been one of the best players I’ve ever seen whenever I’ve watched him.
“I’ve always known about what kind of person he is because it’s not hard to find that out. So I’m really not surprised by any of this. And I don’t say that in an arrogant way. It’s based on who he is. Nothing to do with me. Because this is who he’s always been and I’m just glad everyone gets to see that.”
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Last offseason, Barkley headlined a batch of 2024 free-agent running backs who went on to have success with their teams, including Derrick Henry (Baltimore Ravens) and Josh Jacobs (Green Bay Packers). At the time, Barkley’s deal ranked third in the league in average annual value at $12.6 million.
When his contract extension kicks in, Barkley will be the highest-paid running back on a yearly basis, besting Christian McCaffrey’s $19 million annual salary with the San Francisco 49ers, the previous record at the position.
Barkley will be one of several key pieces of the Eagles offense under contract through the 2028 season, joining a group that includes Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, Jordan Mailata, DeVonta Smith, and Landon Dickerson. The Eagles have other candidates on offense for contract extensions this offseason, including Cam Jurgens, who is entering the final year of his rookie deal, and Lane Johnson, who has no guaranteed money left in his contract.
The full breakdown of Barkley’s contract extension will provide insight into whether the Eagles were afforded any short-term salary-cap relief. Before releasing Darius Slay and James Bradberry this week, the Eagles were set to have roughly $22 million in cap space at the start of the new league year. That ranks 21st in the NFL according to Over the Cap, a website that tracks salary cap and contract information.
Staff writer Jeff McLane contributed to this article.
