Superstar's Contract Is More Team Friendly Than Advertised For Eagles

The Saquon Barkley contract numbers are not quite confirmed, but Pro Football Talk was able to get a look at the details and predictably, it was a solid contract from the team’s perspective while also generating good will by outlaying cash, not to mention some public relations points, to a star player coming off a historic season.

The bottom line to the deal is that Philadelphia agreed to pay the All-Pro running back an additional $6 million over the next two seasons by fully guaranteeing the 2025 and 2026 campaigns.

The out for the team comes after the next two seasons, so from a practical standpoint, the Eagles rebooted the original deal with the same out in the third year for $3M more per season.

There are no significant guarantees in the third year of the new adjusted contract so the Eagles will be addressing Barkley again long before 2027 if the superstar continues to perform. If the performance dips, the Eagles will simply turn the page at that point.

From the player perspective, it’s still a great deal for the running back position with the bragging rights of the highest average annual value and guaranteed money.

The real details are usually masked by the original reports of a two-year, $41M extension because those are agent driven and designed to highlight the maximum income that could be earned over the life of a deal.

The basics of the contract are:

-Barkley will earn a fully guaranteed $16.5 million in 2025, most of which will be paid out as an option bonus.

-Barkley will earn a fully guaranteed $17 million in 2026, most of which will be paid out as an option bonus.

The out comes in 2027 for the Eagles.

-Barkley could earn $16 million in 2027 on paper but only $2.5 million of that is fully guaranteed. Realistically, he will not play under these terms in any circumstance good, bad or indifferent.

-Barkley’s scheduled salary in 2028 is $19.2 million, $1 million of which is a roster bonus. This will also never come into play.

As usual with big Eagles contracts, there are multiple void years at the end of the deal for prorated salary-cap purposes.

In every year of the contract, Barkley can earn $1.5 million in incentives with escalators, so the previously published $15M is meaningless because again, the contract will be addressed long before that ceiling could be reached.