A closer look at the details.
The Philadelphia Eagles shocked the NFL world by giving All-Pro running back Saquon Barkley an extension just one year into his tenure with the team. It’s also the largest extension ever for a running back in terms of average yearly salary, coming in at $20.6 million per year. Barkley was a major catalyst for Philadelphia’s offensive success and Super Bowl run in 2024, and it appears the team wanted to lock him up long term while also rewarding him for his outstanding contributions.
In total, the extension adds two years and $41.2 million to Barkley’s existing contract while moving money around to include more cash in the two existing years. Let’s take a closer look at the details of Barkley’s new extension with the Eagles.
Why did the Eagles extend Saquon Barkley now?
While there’s no doubt of Barkley’s importance, the deal was totally unexpected for most given his position. The NFL as a whole has largely scoffed at paying running backs in recent years.
The Eagles managed to sign Barkley to a very affordable deal heading into 2024, and many assumed the team would continue to take advantage of the tremendous value going forward. Barkley was under contract at just $12.6 million per year through the 2026 season, and given his injury history, it would’ve made sense for the Eagles to remain cautious.
Instead, Philadelphia gave Barkley a massive raise. While that’s an awesome thing to do from a personal standpoint — he clearly deserves a raise for his outstanding play — it’s pretty rare that we see teams actually do it considering the business side of things. Barkley’s cap hit remains mostly the same in 2025, but he gets more money.
Key details from the Saquon Barkley contract
Saquon Barkley signed a two-year, $41.2 million extension with the Eagles that keeps him under contract through the 2028 season. Barkley will be a free agent in 2029, when the 2029-2032 contract years are automatically voided. The void years simply serve as a way to spread out the prorated bonus money. When Barkley’s contract is voided in 2029, the Eagles will then be charged the remaining prorated bonus on the contract, which should be approximately $9.2 million.
Originally set to make $12.4 million and $14.75 million in 2025 and 2026, respectively, he will now make $16.5 million and $17 million before incentives.
Like a lot of Eagles contracts, Barkley’s deal has option bonuses in every single year to keep the cap hits as low as possible in the present, pushing those hits into the future as much as possible.
What are Saquon Barkley’s cap hits in his new contract?
Saquon Barkley will carry the following cap hits throughout his contract:
2025: $6.66 million
2026: $9.88 million
2027: $12.8 million
2028: $17.2 million
2029 (Void): $9.24M dead cap hit
What incentives are built into Saquon Barkley’s new deal?
Barkley also has incentives in the deal of up to $1.5 million per year. These include yardage incentives (1,500 yards nets $250,000, 2,000 yards nets $500,000), Pro Bowl/2nd Team All-Pro ($250,000) or 1st team All-Pro ($500,000), and 1,000 rush yards + NFC Championship win ($250,000) or 1,000 rush yards + Super Bowl win ($500,000).
If any of these incentives are earned, they will increase Barkley’s base salary in the ensuing years of the contract by the same amount. So any incentives earned can increase his cap hit by up to $1.5 million in future years, and that effect could continue to stack. All in all, Barkley could earn up to an additional $15 million over the length of the contract by hitting all his incentives.
Barkley also has a guaranteed $250,000 workout bonus in 2026 (that he has to earn by showing up), along with $1 million roster bonus in 2028 that pays out on the third day of the league year.
How much guaranteed money is in Saquon Barkley’s contract?
Barkley received $36 million fully guaranteed at signing, which includes the entirety of his 2025 and 2026 contract years along with $2.5 million in 2027. That’s the most ever guaranteed at signing for a running back along with the most cash flow over the first two years ($33.5 million) and three years ($49.5 million) in NFL history, per analysis by Pro Football Talk.
All in all, this is a record-setting contract for Saquon Barkley and the rest of the running back market. This deal gives a giant boost to the up-and-coming running backs around the NFL, who will now use this as a benchmark for top-of-the-market pay at the position. For reference, the 49ers Christian McCaffrey ($19 million per year) is the only other running back even remotely close to Barkley’s yearly average. The next closest is Jonathan Taylor at $14 million per season.
While the rest of the NFL has devalued the position, what the Eagles have done to revitalize the strength of the running game is very likely to be copied by the rest of the league. Barkley’s success could be a major catalyst for change at the position that sees running backs gain significantly more prominence in free agency and the NFL Draft.
