Running back Saquon Barkley never played beyond the divisional round of a postseason tournament with the New York Giants from 2018 until he joined the Philadelphia Eagles as a free agent last offseason. Barkley is on track to start for the Eagles in their upcoming Super Bowl LIX matchup versus the Kansas City Chiefs on Feb. 9.
While speaking with reporters on Thursday, Barkley discussed how different his life is this winter compared to last year, when he was coming off the Giants’ forgettable 6-11 campaign.
“It makes me realize how depressed or upset I was [last season],” Barkley acknowledged, as shared by Bob Brookover of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. “I thought I did a good job of hiding it. I thought I did a good job of not letting (failed contract negotiations with the Giants) bother me. …And it’s just a good thing to be in a spot where things are working out to how I envisioned them working out and it’s what I worked for.”
Barkley failed to land a long-term contract with the Giants from the fall of 2022 up until the club retained his rights for the 2023 season via the franchise tag. Last February, It became clear that Giants general manager Joe Schoen wouldn’t match Barkley’s asking price and would let the 2018 first-round draft pick reach free agency.
Barkley subsequently helped the Eagles win 15 of their past 16 games (through the playoffs), and he finished this past regular season leading the NFL with 2,283 yards gained from scrimmage. He’s a finalist for the 2024 Associated Press Most Valuable Player Award, which will be handed out next week. DraftKings Sportsbook had the 27-year-old second among the betting favorites at +260 odds to claim Super Bowl MVP Award honors as of Friday morning.
“There are a lot of great things we’ve accomplished so far up to this,” Barkley added about his outstanding season, “but if you don’t get the job done next Sunday, maybe when you’re in your 30s and 40s you’ll look back and think about how special it was, but you won’t think about that [right now] if you come up short.”
On Friday, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Eagles as 1.5-point underdogs against the Chiefs.
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