Saquon Barkley Signs With Eagles: Fantasy Football Impact & Takeaways (2024)

In a somewhat surprising move, RB Saquon Barkley has agreed to a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Penn State alum will stay in the NFC East to play with his former team’s rivals.

Let’s examine the immediate implications and fantasy impact of Barkley agreeing to terms with the Eagles.

Saquon Barkley Agrees to Deal With Philadelphia Eagles

Saquon Barkley will sign a three-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The deal is reportedly worth at least $37.75 million, could be worth up to $46.75 million, and includes $26 million in guaranteed money.

It’s a hefty contract by the standards of the RB position, but the Eagles are getting one of the more talented running backs in the league. Since entering the NFL in 2018, Barkley has averaged 98.8 yards from scrimmage per game.

The 27-year-old Barkley figures to play a workhorse role with the Eagles, who had a vacancy at the RB position after D’Andre Swift agreed to terms with the Chicago Bears on Monday. Kenneth Gainwell figures to serve as Barkley’s primary backup, and it’s hard to imagine any of the Eagles’ other running backs playing a fantasy-relevant role in 2024.

Barkley played 14 games for the Giants last season, finishing with 962 rushing yards, 280 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. He ranked RB9 in fantasy points per game (PPR) with 15.9.

The 6-0, 232-pound Barkley was regarded as one of the best RB prospects in the years when he left Penn State for the NFL six years ago. A remarkable physical specimen Barkley ran the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds and recorded a vertical jump of 41 inches. With his blend of speed, power and pass-catching ability, Barkley had NFL teams drooling in 2018, and the Giants took him with the No. 2 overall pick.

The Philadelphia Eagles landed Saquon Barkley, and unlike Russell Wilson, his team's Super Bowl odds have gotten better! What say you? pic.twitter.com/FxetYo1wuq

— BettingPros (@BettingPros) March 11, 2024

Barkley lived up to expectations as a rookie with 1,307 rushing yards, 721 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns, making him the RB1 in PPR scoring that year. But Barkley lost significant time to injuries over the next three seasons. A high-ankle sprain cost him three games in 2019. He tore his ACL in Week 2 of 2020 and missed the rest of the season. Another ankle injury sidelined Barkley for four games in 2021. He stayed relatively healthy in 2022, but Barkley missed three games in 2023 with another ankle injury.

If Barkley can stay healthy in 2024, he should be an immensely valuable fantasy asset in Philadelphia. Although the Eagles struggled down the stretch in 2023, they offer a much healthier ecosystem for Barkley than the Giants. The Eagles ranked seventh in scoring and eighth in offensive yardage last year, while the Giants ranked 30th in scoring and 29th in offensive yardage.

Even with highly decorated center Jason Kelce announcing his retirement earlier this month, the Eagles have one of the NFL’s better offensive lines. Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson give Philadelphia an outstanding pair of tackles, and newly resigned guard Landon Dickerson is very good, too.

The question is whether Barkley can still produce noteworthy receiving totals. Over his first two NFL seasons, he averaged 8.1 yards per catch and 6.0 yards per target — exceptional numbers for a running back. In the four years since, he’s averaged 6.5 yards per catch and 4.7 yards per target. Mobile quarterbacks tend to throw to their running backs less frequently than immobile quarterbacks, and Jalen Hurts is one of the most mobile quarterbacks in the game. Eagles RBs were targeted 93 times last season, the 12th fewest in the league.

The bigger concern about Barkley being paired with Hurts, at least from a fantasy perspective, is that Hurts could cut into Barkley’s short-yardage touchdowns. Hurts had 15 TD runs last season and has scored 38 rushing touchdowns over the last three years. A lot of those touchdowns have come on the “tush push,” a version of the QB sneak on which a pair of players lined up behind Hurts help shove him over the goal line. Philadelphia running backs combined for only seven TD runs last season — although it’s worth remembering that Miles Sanders had 11 rushing touchdowns for the Eagles in 2022.

With Barkley landing in a favorable spot, his average draft position is likely to creep into the early part of the second round and perhaps even the end of the first round. His FantasyPros Expert Consensus ranking before the deal with the Eagles was announced was RB8, No. 17 overall. Now, a lot of fantasy managers will feel comfortable taking Barkley around the first-round/second-round turn.

In dynasty formats, Barkley should be considered a midrange to low-end RB1. His age and injury history are reasons not to mortgage the farm to acquire Barkley in a trade, but he’s still an extremely valuable asset, particularly with the major upgrade in his environment.