“ Giant for life ,” was often a phrase Barkley floated around during his tenure with the team that drafted him, but ultimately he wound up heading South on the New Jersey turnpike to return to the state where he played his college football with Penn State.

Ever since the Philadelphia Eagles signed running back Saquon Barkley in free agency in March 2024, expectations have been high for a team that fell just short of winning it all against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 57.