“We got a great player at a great price”

When Saquon Barkley touched the football for the first time as a member of the Eagles, he slipped on the terrible turf at the Corinthians Area in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and lost five yards. That was not the kind of first touch Barkley and Eagles fans expected.

“I just didn’t handle it right,” Barkley said. “I went out to warm up and decided not to wear cleats because I felt comfortable enough. It’s different than warming up and then going full throttle.”

“After the first drive, I put my cleats in and made the first run. I was a little hesitant to get a feel for it. After that, I think it was pretty OK.”

Pretty OK is like saying the movie Gladiator was a pretty OK movie. Barkley was fantastic, kind of like The Godfather.

Barkley averaged 3.58 yards after contact, according to Jeff Kerr of CBS. The Eagles were last in rushing yards after contact last year with 2.36, with D’Andre Swift as the lead back. Barkley averaged 5.1 yards on his first attempt.

After that slip-up, which cost him five yards, Barkley went wild, rushing for 109 yards on 24 attempts, with a touchdown catch and two more runs.

He became only the second player in Eagles history to score three touchdowns in his debut. Ironically, he played alongside Terrell Owens against the New York Giants in 2004 because the Giants felt they needed to part ways with Barkley and give him a chance to test free agency.

The Eagles don’t typically invest in high-profile contracts for running backs, but Barkley was too good not to, so they went all out and gave him a three-year deal with a base salary of $37.75 million and $26 million guaranteed.

“Saquon is a special player who we thought could have a unique impact on the offense and the entire team,” said assistant general manager Alec Halaby. “I think we got a great player at a fair price that both sides are happy with. That’s how we look at it.”

When asked if his performance justified the contract the Eagles gave him, Barkley disagreed.

“I don’t look at it that way,” he said. “For me, it’s an opportunity to play the game I love. I put all the nonsense aside. I can just go out there, be a little kid and play football. That’s my main focus.”

Barkley knew immediately that he wanted to join the Eagles for two reasons: first, because of their offensive line and second, because they were close to his hometown in the Lehigh Valley, not far from Philly.

“The O-line played great,” he said. “That’s a big reason why I wanted to come to Philly when I had the opportunity.”

His O-lines in six years with the Giants never rose above mediocrity, although he rushed for at least 100 yards 18 times with New York. His last 100-yard game was on October 29, 2023, but the Giants lost that 13-10 to the New York Jets.

He only had one game with the Giants where he scored three touchdowns, and that was in 74 games played. Barkley already scored his first in just one game with the Eagles and their offensive line.

“Made some great plays at key moments and scored a lot of touchdowns,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “Man, yeah, having him on our football team means a lot, right? (General Manager) Howie (Roseman) has done a great job of putting this team together and he’s a playmaker, a great leader and a great person.”

“People feed off his energy and you could feel it all. Not because of the games he made, but because of the energy and the positive energy he had out there.”

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