Philadelphia Eagles’ Saquon Barkley makes surprising retirement comments, ‘out of nowhere’

Saquon Barkley envisions ‘out of nowhere’ retirement, cites NFL legend

Speaking on former Los Angeles Rams and Eagles defensive end Chris Long’s podcast, “Green Light With Chris Long”, Barkley answered a question about his eventual retirement with a surprising candor.

“I’ll probably be one of those guys that it would be out of nowhere,” Barkley said. “I would probably just wake up one day, whether it’s next year or two years or four years, and just be like, ‘Yeah, it’s over.’”

Perhaps to visualize the type of retirement he meant, Barkley went on to describe how Detroit Lions legendary running back Barry Sanders left the game.

“Probably my favorite player of all time, is Barry Sanders, so probably similar to that. Maybe one day it will be out of nowhere. I’ll probably be ballin’ and just be like, ‘Yeah,’ and call it quits.”

Would Saquon Barkley really retire suddenly?

Despite his comments, it’s hard to envisage Barkley retiring just yet. He’s in line to make a lot of money over the next four years, and he’s playing for a team in the Eagles that look set – behind quarterback Jalen Hurts – to be a contender for the duration of that time.

However, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine Barkley turning his thoughts elsewhere during that time, if only because his career has seen a lot of usage.

He was a ‘bellcow’ running back at Penn State for most of his college career, before spending six seasons with the New York Giants, where he often was asked to help carry a struggling offense, as well as suffering a major ACL injury in the 2020 season.

While his tenure with the Eagles has been incident-free so far, he has been heavily used, with 482 total touches last year in his terrific season.

Given that Barkley is already a Super Bowl champion, offensive player of the year, first-team All-Pro, and three-time Pro Bowler, it’s reasonable to assume that at some point, he may decide he’s achieved enough to leave a legacy.

Unfortunately for the Eagles’ detractors, that day probably isn’t coming any time soon.