Saquon Barkley drops intriguing hint about his NFL future

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley sparked some speculation about his future with recent comments he made about when and how he might retire.

Barkley was asked in an appearance on the “Green Light with Chris Long” podcast if he imagines himself playing until the wheels fall off, or if he might make like Aaron Donald and retire fairly young. Barkley’s response was intriguing.

“I’m probably one of those guys that it’d be out of nowhere,” Barkley said. “I’d probably just wake up one day, whether it’s next year, two years, four years, and just be like, ‘It’s over.’ I don’t think I will ever lose that passion. I’m just a competitor. … The competitive nature is always going to be there.

“Probably my favorite player of all time was Barry Sanders. Probably similar to that. Maybe one day, it’ll be out of nowhere, I’ll probably be balling and just be like, yeah, call it quits.”

Sanders retired at the age of 30, and Barkley is two years away from that. Based on these comments, one has to wonder if the star running back only has a handful of years left. On the other hand, if he does want it to be a surprise, he probably will not put a timeline on his retirement.

For now, Barkley certainly has no reason to retire. He just ran for 2,005 yards and parlayed that into a big new payday. The Eagles have him signed through 2028, so perhaps that could be a point for him to potentially call it quits if he still feels this way by that point.