Eagles’ Jalen Hurts on Saquon Barkley: He’s ‘excited’ to still be in NFC East

Saquon Barkley’s new home is located roughly two hours from his old one, as the star running back left the New York Giants for the Philadelphia Eagles in free agency.

Is Barkley motivated to make the Giants regret letting him walk?

While saying that Barkley is “explosive,” Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts hinted that the running back is thrilled to still be playing close to his old stomping grounds.

“He’s a very smart player, very eager to learn, great communicator. That’s all you can ask for. I’m excited to see him build into the role he’ll play for us, and I know he’s excited to be here [and] be in this division [NFC East],” Hurts said about Barkley on NFL Network.

Philadelphia signed Barkley to a three-year, $37.8 million deal in March. On a recent edition of HBO’s “Hard Knocks: Offseason With the New York Giants,” it was unveiled that Giants general manager Joe Schoen was unwilling to match the offer that the Eagles made Barkley and was hesitant to pay the running back, in general.

Last season, Barkley ran for 962 yards and six touchdowns on 3.9 yards per carry across 14 games (Barkley missed three games due to an ankle injury). He also totaled 41 receptions for 280 yards and four touchdowns.

The year prior, Barkley ran for a career-high 1,312 yards and 10 touchdowns on 4.4 yards per carry. Barkley has played in just two full seasons across his six-year NFL career due to injury, earning a Pro Bowl nod in each of those two healthy seasons (2018 and 2022).

Barkley, linebacker Devin White and defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson headline Philadelphia’s offseason haul, with Barkley replacing outgoing running back D’Andre Swift, who ran for a career-high 1,049 yards last season.

As for Hurts, the fifth-year signal-caller totaled 3,858 passing yards, 23 passing touchdowns, 15 interceptions and an 89.1 passer rating, while completing 65.4% of his passes last season. He also rushed for 605 yards and 15 touchdowns. The Eagles are coming off a 2023 campaign that saw them start 10-1 and then lose a combined six of their last seven games, ending with a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC wild-card round.

On the other hand, New York replaced Barkley with running back Devin Singletary, while primarily allocating its cap space to acquire and extend linebacker and two-time Pro Bowler Brian Burns.

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