Saquon Barkley may be in the NFL for a good time, not a long time.
The Philadelphia Eagles running back has racked up career-making accomplishments in the last year, winning the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year award en route to a Super Bowl victory. This summer, he was named the cover athlete for the upcoming Madden NFL 26.
With his career peaking, Barkley recently hinted that he might not want to stretch his career out, telling Chris Long that he'll "probably [be] one of those guys that it would be out of nowhere," citing his favorite player Barry Sanders. Barkley said a surprise retirement could even come in the next couple of years.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni isn't worried about that, and says he's excited to coach Barkley as long as he's with Philadelphia.
“Yeah, I guess anybody could do that, right? I just know he’s got a lot of good football left in him,” Sirianni said in a Tuesday press conference. “Again, I have interactions with these guys every single day and so I’m excited that he’s on our football team and he’ll be on our football team for the 2025 season. I really don’t let myself get wrapped up into anything else beyond that, except for the day that we’re in and trying to get ready for this practice and obviously handle all those things as they come. Yeah, as long as I’m the head coach here, I’d always want to Saquon Barkley on this football team. Obviously it means a lot to this football team and as a player and as a teammate.”
Barkley is coming off of the best season of his career, in which he ran for 2,005 yards and 13 touchdowns and was in the MVP conversations until the end of the season. He was rewarded for it, as the Eagles signed him to a two-year, $41.2 million extension after the season, which is set to keep him with the team through 2028.
Whether he plays through that entire deal remains to be seen, but for Sirianni, all focus is on the season ahead.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Eagles' Nick Sirianni Addresses Saquon Barkley's Early Retirement Comments.
