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Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley is expected to sit out of the team's final regular season game against the NFC East Division rival New York Giants despite being 100 yards shy of tying the NFL single-season rushing record, head coach Nick Sirianni told reporters on Wednesday (January 1).
"He will probably be somebody that rests," Sirianni said via ESPN.
Barkley, 27, who signed with the Eagles after spending his entire career and failing to reach a long-term deal with the Giants this past offseason, surpassed the 2,000-yard mark on a 23-yard run in the fourth quarter of Sunday's (December 29) win against the rival Dallas Cowboys. Philadelphia guaranteed its spot as the No. 2 seed in the NFC with the win and was expected to rest its starters, though Barkley's status was questioned as he was 101 yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson's record of 2,105 yards set in 1984.
"Obviously it's a very special record that's been standing for a very long time by a great player. It's a team record that everybody's involved in. You weigh all those things," Sirianni said via ESPN. "But at the end of the day, you just try to do what's best for the team. When the bye was, how guys are feeling, the bumps and bruises we can take care of. We've put ourselves in a position to be in this situation. ... It wasn't the easiest decision to go through, but we have great people in this building and had a lot of input from a lot of people, players included."
Barkley joined an elite class that includes four Pro Football Hall of Famers and four NFL MVPs:
- Buffalo Bills RB O.J. Simpson- 2,003 yards (1973) (HOF/MVP)
- Los Angeles Rams RB Eric Dickerson- 2,105 yards (1984) (HOF)
- Detroit Lions RB Barry Sanders- 2,053 yards (1997) (HOF/MVP)
- Denver Broncos RB Terrell Davis- 2,008 yards (1998) (HOF/MVP)
- Baltimore Ravens RB Jamal Lewis- 2,066 yards (2003)
- Tennessee Titans RB Chris Johnson- 2,006 yards (2009)
- Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson- 2,097 yards (2012) (MVP)
- Tennessee Titans RB Derrick Henry- 2,027 yards (2020)
- Philadelphia Eagles RB Saquon Barkley- 2,005 yards (2024)
The former Penn State standout finished Sunday's game with 167 yards on 31 carries, with his 23-yard run to break the 2,000-yard plateau serving as his longest of the game.