When news broke that Saquon Barkley was not going to play in the Philadelphia Eagles' Week 18 regular season finale against the New York Giants, the one person fans wanted to hear from – save SB 2K himself – was head coach Nick Sirianni.

Now granted, the decision was controversial, to say the least, with the fanbase more-or-less 50-50 on what Philadelphia should do, but what led Sirianni to make the call? Well, on Wednesday, he explained his mindset to reporters, noting that it was not an easy call or one that he made alone.

“Not going to get into all that. Obviously, a lot plays into that. It’s a very special record that’s been standing for a very long time by a great player. It’s a team record that everybody is involved in, so you weigh in all those things,” Sirianni told reporters.

“But at the end of the day, you just try to do what’s best for the team. Again, when the bye was, how guys are feeling, the bumps and bruises we can take care of. We’ve put ourselves in a position to be able to be in this situation. And our goals are to have success and to play good the next game we play. Not only New York, but whoever we play after that. We think this plays into that.

“It’s not easy. It wasn’t the easiest decision to go through, but we have great people in this building and had a lot of input from a lot of different people, players included. [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie and I discussed a bunch. Position coaches and coordinators and I discussed a bunch. I discussed with players. We have just selfless guys that want to do what’s best for the football team. And getting some guys some rest who have been grinding for the past, what did you say, 12 weeks, we felt that was in the best interest of the team.”

Wait, Sirianni was so conflicted that he literally ran this situation up the flagpole to his superiors? But what did they say? Well, Sirianni explained that, too, and the answer is fascinating.

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) stands on the field during a timeout against the Washington Commanders during the third quarter at Northwest Stadium.
Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
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Howie Roseman, Jeffrey Lurie were consulted on Saquon Barkley call

Asked how his conversations with Roseman and even Jeffrey Lurie went and how that impacted the situation, Sirianni broke down their conversations and how it played into the call.

“I talk to everybody about everything. Use all inputs. So of course I talk to [Chairman and Chief Executive Officer] Mr. [Jeffrey] Lurie about everything. Good communication is what good organizations do. We have so many resources here to be able to discuss and talk. You use all those. Ultimately, I had to make the decision of what I felt was the best for the team. Luckily, we have great, selfless guys on this football team. But at the end of the day, I had to make the decision of what I felt was best. This is the direction we went,” Sirianni told reporters.

“So many good resources. [Chairman and Chief Executive Officer] Mr. [Jeffrey] Lurie [and I], we’ve been in this since I’ve been here, but [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman] and [Chairman and Chief Executive Officer] Mr. [Jeffrey] Lurie have been in this same situation multiple times as well in addition to the past four years. So they have a lot of experience in this as well. Of course you use all resources that you have at your hands to help you make the best decision for the football team.”

What would have happened if Sirianni received a mixed response? Could he have been overruled by the front office or even his team's head coach? Well, it seems like that didn't happen, but the amount of care that went into the situation clearly proves that the team didn't take the situation lightly, as it really could make a major impact on the season as a whole.