Eagles' Saquon Barkley elaborates on shocking retirement plans

Billy Heyen

Eagles' Saquon Barkley elaborates on shocking retirement plans image

Saquon Barkley wanted to make things clear.

It was just last week that the Philadelphia Eagles superstar running back said he wanted to be like Barry Sanders and retire early.

On Tuesday at minicamp, though, Barkley set the record straight.

"I don’t plan on retiring anytime soon," Barkley told reporters.

That wouldn't have to clash with the timeline he alluded to on Chris Long's podcast. There, it sounded like Barkley would play at least three more years, minimum.

That could very well overlap with "anytime soon" in Barkley's head.

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Running back is a tough position to play into your 30s in the NFL. Barkley is 28 right now.

Last week, Barkley said this of Sanders: 

“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.”

It's not an immediate concern for the Eagles, who are focused on defending their Super Bowl championship.

Barkley broke the 2,000-yard mark in a legendary 2024 season.

Philadelphia will gladly keep him around for as long as possible.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle