Fresh off of his record-setting season, Saquon Barkley has been rewarded with an unprecedented payday.
Barkley reached a two-year, $41.2 million contract extension with the Philadelphia Eagles, according to ESPN, making him the highest-paid running back in NFL history.
The extension includes $36 million in guaranteed money and comes less than a year after Philly signed Barkley away from the Giants for $37.5 million over three years.
Barkley, 28, led the NFL with 2,005 rushing yards last season, marking the ninth time a player eclipsed 2,000 yards on the ground, and was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
He added 499 rushing yards and five touchdowns in the playoffs, leading the Eagles to their second Super Bowl championship. The 2,504 rushing yards Barkley totaled over the regular season and playoffs were the most in NFL history.
The Giants drafted Barkley with the No. 2 overall pick in 2018 when Dave Gettleman was the general manager. He spent six seasons with the organization, earning two Pro Bowl selections.
The last of his years with the Giants came in 2023 after current general manager Joe Schoen used the franchise tag on Barkley.
Back page for Feb. 11, 2025: Final results say season couldn’t have gone better for Philly, or worse for Big Blue. In less than a year, Saquon Barkley has gone from Giant, to Eagle, to Super Bowl champion while his former team has gone in reverse.
A long-term contract extension never came, and Schoen allowed Barkely to test the open market last March, then declined to make him a final offer, as documented on HBO’s offseason edition of “Hard Knocks.”
“I’m happy for Saquon,” Schoen said last week at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. “Obviously, went on to win the Super Bowl, and we wish him nothing but the best. Always gonna evaluate all the decisions you make, and we were at a different place in our build.”
Barkley’s new deal with the Eagles makes him the first running back with a contract exceeding $20 million per year.