There has never been a moment in his career when Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley has seemed like a trash talker. If anything, when Barkley says he’s going to do something you better pay close attention. Because he can back it up.
Barkley went on ESPN amid the start of training camp and made a bold declaration about trying to become the NFL’s first player to rush for 2,000 yards twice.
“Somebody’s gotta rush for 2,000 yards twice,” Barkley said to ESPN’s Marty Smith. “Somebody’s gotta break that record. Why can’t it be me?”
Barkley finished the regular season with 2,005 rushing yards — just the ninth player in NFL history to top 2,000 — and just 100 yards short of former Los Angeles Rams running back Eric Dickerson’s single season mark of 2,105 yards set in 1984. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni made the decision to not play Barkley in the meaningless regular season finale after the Eagles had already secured the No. 2 seed in the NFC Playoffs.
NFL’s 2K Rushers Never Matched Mark Again
Of the previous 8 times an NFL player has rushed for over 2,000 yards, several of them have come agonizingly close to doing it twice.
The closest was actually in 2024, when Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry rushed for 1,921 yards after cracking the 2,000 yard mark in 2020 with the Tennessee Titans. He’s only player on the list to eclipse 1,900 yards in another season.
O.J. Simpson, Dickerson and Barry Sanders all had an 1,800 yard season after their 2,000 yard season, and Dickerson was the only one to do it twice.
The one true anomaly on the list is former Denver Broncos running back Terrell Davis, who ran for over 2,000 yards in 1998 but is the only one of the previous 8 running backs to never rush for 1,000 yards again.
Eagles Made Barkley NFL’s First $20M Running Back
The Eagles made more history for Barkley after his 2,000 yard season was followed by a dominant playoff performance, Super Bowl win and NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors.
Less than one calendar year after signing him away from the New York Giants on a 3-year, $37.75 million free agent contract, the Eagles made the unusual move of signing Barkley to a 2-year, $41.2 million contract extension. It made him the first running back in NFL history to eclipse $20 million per season.
Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton put Barkley’s new contract so far ahead of any other contract at his position that it won’t likely be matched until the 2027 or 2028 free agency cycles.
“Based on average annual salary and guaranteed money, Barkley’s contract tops the running back market, and that probably won’t change any time soon,” Moton wrote on July 22. “He’s a three-time Pro Bowler, the 2024 rushing champion and won the 2018 Offensive Rookie of the Year and 2024 Offensive Player of the Year awards. At 28, Barkley’s salary will pace the running back market, possibly until the Atlanta Falcons give Pro Bowler Bijan Robinson a new deal or the Detroit Lions sign two-time Pro Bowler Jahmyr Gibbs to an extension in the next two years.”
