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Saquon Barkley Makes Telling Comment About Retiring

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated Jun 4, 2025 1:58 PM ET

The past 365 days have been pretty big for Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley. He's set records, won awards, won a Super Bowl and is now the Madden NFL cover athlete. But that doesn't mean he's not willing to engage with a little bit of retirement banter.

Appearing on the Green Light podcast, Barkley was asked whether he plans to retire at a high level or play until the wheels effectively fall off. Barkley responded that he would most likely retire "out of nowhere" and just wake up one morning to declare "it's over."

“I’ll probably be one of those guys that it’ll be out of nowhere. I’ll probably just wake up one day, whether it’s next year or two years or four years, and just be like, ‘Yeah, it’s over,’” Barkley said.

Barkley likened his situation to that of legendary Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders, who retired in 1999 mere days after his 31st birthday.

“One of my favorite players of all time, probably my favorite player of all time, is Barry Sanders, so probably similar to that. Maybe one day it’ll be out of nowhere. I’ll probably be ballin’ and just be like, yeah, call it quits,” Barkley said.

Sanders had been one of the best running backs in NFL history through his 10 NFL seasons but rarely enjoyed any real playoff success.

Barkley, on the other hand, has pretty much achieved everything a running back could want to achieve already. He's a Super Bowl champion, a member of the exclusive 2,000-yard rushers club and boasts many other accolades besides.

The only thing that might be keeping Barkley on the field is the understanding that he might not have played enough to secure induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He would probably need to play another two or three years at a high level to really cement his place in Canton, Ohio.

But if Barkley would rather go out on top in a year or two and not try to accumulate stats to please the Hall of Fame voting committee, then he won't find too many people demanding that he stay. Running backs have a hard enough time staying healthy as it is.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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