Eagles' Saquon Barkley discusses winning bet on himself after signing historic extension

In March 2023, it felt as if running back Saquon Barkley lost a bet on himself after he rejected a multi-year contract extension from the New York Giants and had to play the subsequent season on an adjusted franchise tag. 

Barkley has now received big-money deals from the Philadelphia Eagles in back-to-back offseasons, and the recently-crowned Super Bowl champion spoke with reporters on Monday about how far he's come since he reportedly considered sitting games out instead of playing for the Giants on the tag in 2023. 

"Sitting there in (Arizona) not sure what I should do and kind of making the decision to not accept the tag and bet on myself, it just showed me that every single time I bet on myself that more times than not it comes out the right way. You can’t judge it by time," Barkley said, as shared by Bob Brookover of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "God’s time is unbelievable."

The Giants controversially let Barkley reach free agency last March, and he ultimately received a three-year, $37.75M contract with $26M fully guaranteed from the Eagles. He then led the NFL with 2,283 total yards from scrimmage in the regular season en route to earning NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award honors, and he became a first-time Super Bowl champion via Philadelphia's 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. 

Even though the Eagles had Barkley locked down, they recently rewarded him with a two-year, $41M extension that included $36M guaranteed at signing. Per Tim McManus of ESPN, the deal made Barkley the highest-paid running back in NFL history.

"I think it was just mutual," Barkley added about talks he had with the Eagles front office about his extension. "The love I have for this organization. I want to be here for a very long term and it’s the same thing they feel for me and obviously it shows. I’m just thankful for obviously the extension, but being part of this organization from top to bottom. They do it the right way. To be able to be part of this organization for four more years and hopefully more, I’m super excited about that."

As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Eagles as the betting favorites at +650 odds to win Super Bowl LX in February 2026. It took a little longer than he would have liked, but few could argue this offseason that Barkley won in a big way by making the bet on himself that resulted in his joining the Eagles roughly 12 months ago.