When you have Saquon Barkley, you have a great situation in the running backs room. Barkley's 2024 season was one for the ages – 2,005 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground in the regular season and an NFL-record 2,504 rushing yards and a total of 18 rushing touchdowns for the entire season. He is 28 years old, agreed to terms on a new contract extension, takes care of his body impeccably, and has a great hunger for more success in an offense that has weapons everywhere and an offensive line that will continue to be a huge plus.
Barkley doesn't do it alone and the Eagles know they need depth in the running backs room to stay strong at the position in the long, long season ahead. Kenneth Gainwell has been a terrific No. 2 running back, but now has the chance to enter free agency and see what the market holds for him. Second-year man Will Shipley played sparingly in 2024, but showed in the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship Game that he is on the rise – 4 carries, 77 yards and a touchdown against Washington with a 57-yard burst. Shipley had 30 carries for 82 yards in the regular season. Tyrion Davis-Price is also on the roster and the Eagles want to get another long look at a player with a good size/speed combination. Lew Nichols was signed to the roster in late February and added to the 90-man roster.
The Eagles will look for more depth here as the offseason begins.
Free Agents
Gainwell is the single free agent and it will be interesting to see what his next move will be and how the market views him. He has been a great fit in the Eagles' offensive backfield picture for four seasons.
Bird Talk
RB Coach Jemal Singleton on improving Saquon Barkley:
"The thing that I do no matter who the back is go through their entire tape –every carry, every reception, every block, all those types of things, and to be honest with you, I saw a very elite player that could do a lot of things. I thought in pass protection that would be an area that he [could grow]. I think he's improved in that. There were some runs where I thought, 'Hey, if we could just get him to get his shoulders square a little bit more, he'll be able to see the full field. And I think he's done that. He's made some great cuts that, as a coach, maybe on tape it doesn't look like much, but have been great. Those couple of things I wanted him to work on. He's such a great dude, coachable young man. He just wants to be great."
Notable Stat
Barkley had 7 touchdown runs of 60-plus yards in the 2024 season, an NFL record. Three of those long scoring runs happened in the postseason – no other player in NFL history has as many as three 60-plus-yard runs in his entire postseason career. As a team, the Eagles set a franchise record with 3,048 rushing yards in the regular season and became the season team in NFL history to rush for more than 3,000 yards and score more than 25 touchdowns (they had 29, including quarterback Jalen Hurts) on the ground.
Under the Microscope
There are going to be close eyes on a number of things s the 2025 on-field portion of the season nears. How fresh is Barkley after carrying such a heavy load in 2024? What kind of next step does Shipley – listed at 209 pounds as a rookie – make in his second season? What happens with Gainwell in the free agency period? Can Davis-Price, after spending the entire season on the practice squad. He's a former third-round pick by the 49ers (2002) and the Eagles hope he is ready to contribute.
