With the Eagles, ‘cocky’ Saquon Barkley can’t wait to show how the Giants stifled his talent

In 1776, Philadelphia was the most populous city in what would become the United States. By 1790, New York City held that distinction.

In 1790, Philadelphia became the home to the first stock exchange in America. Two years later, the New York Stock Exchange was born, and that was that.

It’s been a humbling 250 years or so for Philly, the nation’s first capital, as it smoldered in the ever-growing shadow of NYC, the center of world commerce and culture. It’s been particularly irksome to consider that the Giants have four times as many Super Bowl wins as the Eagles, two of which came with the lesser Manning.

Well, at least now Philly’s got Saquon.

Barkley agreed with the Eagles to a three-year, $37.75 million free-agent deal in March. He chose the Eagles over the Bears and Texans. The Giants reportedly never made an offer.

Philadelphia relished the homecoming.

Six years ago it galled Eagles fans to see Barkley — who wore Whitehall High School’s maroon and gold, then Penn State’s blue and white — squeeze his thunderous thighs into the red, white, blue, and gray of the New York Giants. In the swamps of East Rutherford, N.J., Barkley wasted the first six seasons of his career.

“You’ll definitely get a better sense [of my abilities] in this offense,” Barkley said. “Not trying to sound cocky — the tape speaks for itself.”

From those swamps, he twice went to the Pro Bowl. He twice gained more than 1,300 rushing yards. He scored at least 10 total touchdowns three times.

In those swamps, he endured the Giants’ ineptitude: They lost twice as many games as they won (32-64-1) and reached the postseason just once. He has played in two playoff games, but he has watched the Eagles go five times, play in eight, and reach Super Bowl LVII.

Little wonder then, that more than any Eagle, Barkley is so eager for 2024 to begin.

“I’m super excited to actually put on a jersey,” he told reporters Sunday as the Eagles prepared for the season opener against the Packers on Friday in Brazil. “I’ve been talking about it all offseason — how thankful I am to the Eagles organization, top to bottom, for bringing me here.”

Of course he’s excited.

For the first time since he left Penn State, he’ll be running behind a viable offensive line. For the first time since he shared a Happy Valley backfield with Trace McSorley, he’ll be playing with a competent quarterback.

According to Pro Football Focus, in Barkley’s six seasons, the Giants’ line averaged 22nd in the NFL as run blockers, was inside the top 20 just once — 14th in 2022 — and ranked 30th last season. Nevertheless, Barkley twice ran for more than 1,300 yards, so his talent probably inflated the rankings.

Everybody knows that Barkley made a bad line look better and that he’d get a chance to really show his stuff with the Eagles.

“I was so happy for him,” said Nick Gates, a tackle with the Eagles during training camp. “I was like, ‘Finally, now, he has a good offensive line and good guys he can run behind.’”

Gates should know. He played on those Giants offensive lines from 2019 to 2022.

It wasn’t just the guys in the trenches who let Barkley down. Barkley’s field generals were more George Custer than George Patton.

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Eli Manning and his successor, Daniel Jones, collected more than $100 million in the years they were expected to be the Giants’ No. 1 QB with Barkley, but they averaged a passer rating of 84.7; in the context of the 2023 season, that was slightly better than the Commanders’ Sam Howell, who led the NFL with 21 interceptions.

Pro Football Focus projects the Eagles to be the No. 1 pass-blocking line in 2024, despite the retirement of center Jason Kelce. Jalen Hurts had an 89.1 passer rating in a poor season in 2023, and his 60.1 quarterback rating, a more comprehensive metric, ranked a respectable 12th.

Consider that Barkley will play with receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, as well as tight end Dallas Goedert, and it’s clear that no back in the NFL is in a better situation than Barkley is now.

And perhaps no great back in the past few seasons has been in a worse situation than Barkley was with the Giants.

Not anymore.