The Philadelphia Eagles essentially have no chance to get a first-round bye in the postseason. But still, there is seemingly a chance that Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley will take part in their regular-season finale against the New York Giants in Week 18.
Barring a tie in the Lions-Vikings Week 18 game, the Eagles will be locked into a No. 2 seed in the NFC with a win over the Giants.
With this in mind, you may assume that the Eagles may want to simply bench their starters to preserve their health for the postseason.
However, Saquon Barkley is quickly approaching the NFL record for rushing yards in a season. With just 101 yards against the Giants, Barkley would break Eric Dickerson’s rushing record of 2,105 yards in a single year.
To not only break the NFL rushing record, but to do so against his former team that infamously let him go because they didn’t want to extend him to a long-term deal, has to be enticing for Barkley.
While he will likely have some say in the matter of whether he plays or not and goes for the record, this decision will also reportedly go much further than just being up to Barkley.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni spoke with the media about the looming decision on Barkley’s availability, detailing how he plans to “speak with everybody” about Barkley’s availability.
“I’ll talk to our staff, I’ll talk to the players, I’ll talk to [General Manager] Howie [Roseman], I’ll talk to Mr. Lurie. I’ll talk to everybody to try and make sure I’m making the best decision for the football team,” Sirianni said Tuesday on WIP radio in Philadelphia, via ESPN.com.
The best decision for the football team would undoubtedly be for the Eagles to preserve Barkley’s health for the postseason considering how important he is to their success.
However, it’s quite rare to see a player like Barkley have this kind of shot at history. So obviously, there are far more than just the team’s postseason plans at play here when it comes to this choice.
[ESPN]
