The Philadelphia Eagles made a splash by signing running back Saquon Barkley in free agency this offseason, taking him from the division rival New York Giants, and the running back opened up on the mentality he believes that the Eagles have from observing them from the outside throughout his career.
“From watching afar, everything this team's about, this city's about — they have that mentality,” Saquon Barkley said, via Brooks Kubena of The Athletic. “They want to win. I know everybody's stuck on last year. But, you know, being 11-6 and making it to the first round? That's a down year. That's a great culture you want to be a part of. You have that mindset where it's like, ‘No, we need to do way more.' And I know how special this place is. I know how special I believe it can be.”
Barkley has not experienced much winning throughout his career with the Giants, only having one winning season. His career has been hampered by injuries and playing behind bad offensive lines in New York so far. On paper, he enters the strongest situation he has ever played in with the Eagles heading into 2024. He hopes to be on the winning side moving forward in his career.
Saquon Barkley's daughter expects to be on the winning side now
In a recent video discussing his move to the Eagles, Barkley described his daughter's reaction, saying that she asked if they would win now. Barkley certainly hopes so.
Saquon Barkley's daughter when she heard he's signing with the #Eagles: “Does that mean we’re going to win now?” 😱
(via @Eagles, h/t @CrossingBroad)pic.twitter.com/N9Gixzia8b
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) March 20, 2024
The Eagles are one year removed from a trip to the Super Bowl. The 2023 season did not go as planned, as Philadelphia fell off down the stretch in the regular season and lost in the Wild Card round to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nick Sirianni is sticking around, but Kellen Moore is taking over at offensive coordinator, and Vic Fangio is taking over as the defensive coordinator.
Barkley's best year of his career individually was his rookie year in 2018. He won Offensive Rookie of the Year honors, and was arguably the best running back in the league. In 2019, he suffered an ankle sprain in week three, but still put up good numbers.
2020 was when Barkley tore his ACL, and that limited him to playing in just two games and struggling in 2021 coming off of that injury. 2022 was a return to form, as he helped the Giants to the playoffs by having his second best individual season. Then in 2023, Barkley struggled behind a poor run blocking offensive line, despite still showing the physical ability to make highlight plays.
Although Jason Kelce retired from the Eagles, the offensive line still should be the strongest one that Barkley has ran behind in his career to this point. We will have to see how it plays out in the 2024 season.
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