The Philadelphia Eagles made a surprising big splash in NFL free agency when they signed running back Saquon Barkley to a three-year deal worth up to $46.75 million with $26 million guaranteed. 

Paying a running back in free agency is not something the Eagles are known for, but Barkley was worth it. 

At the NFL's annual league meetings in Orlando, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman shared his thought process behind Barkley's hefty contract. 

“I think, for us, it’s hard to find special players at any position,” Roseman told reporters, via NBC Sports' Dave Zangaro. “We think Saquon’s a special player and we think he’s a special person. And when you’re trying to find those guys, they’re hard to find, especially on the open market. Then you put into the dynamic about … has the pendulum swung so far at this position? 

"The guy touches the ball 300 times a year, hopefully. There’s not a lot of other skill position players that are touching the ball that many times and have that effect.”

Barkley, the former second-overall pick by the New York Giants in the 2018 NFL Draft,  isn't as young as he once was, but he's still playing at an extremely high level.

He also takes good care of his body, something else that the Eagles checked into.  

“Well, he’s not 30, 31. The guy is going to be 27 this season,” Roseman said. “We obviously looked at the workload. I think that that’s a fair point. … But the player trains unbelievably and he’s a freak. We see that in his testing numbers and his body, you see that in his GPS speed. And so we believe in the player and we think that based on the resources and where you can put resources and based on the resources that go at that amount in the league, that this made a lot of sense for us.”

Barkley, 27, has reached over 1,000 total rushing yards in four of his six NFL seasons.

And there's no doubt he would have notched over 1,000 rushing yards for the Giants last fall had he not missed three games due to a high ankle sprain — and if he had a better offensive line.

Barkley finished 2023 running for 962 yards and six touchdowns. He added another 280 yards and four touchdowns in the air. 

Barkley replaces D'Andre Swift who departed in free agency to the Chicago Bears on a three-year deal worth $24 million with $15.4 million guaranteed. 

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