Latest Saquon Barkley-Eagles report will have Giants fans in tears

The Philadelphia Eagles turned heads with their offseason acquisition of Saquon Barkley, inking the two-time Pro Bowl RB to a three-year, $37.8 million contract. That is a hefty price to pay for a running back in today's market, but Barkley is the crème de la crème. When he's right, few offensive weapons are more explosive.

Last season was a challenging one for Barkley, who battled through injuries and one of the NFL's worst offensive lines to produce 1,242 yards from scrimmage and 10 total touchdowns across 14 games. He averaged 3.9 yards per carry, the second-lowest mark of his career, but also managed 17.6 carries per game — second only to the previous season's 18.4 carries.

In terms of volume, Barkley remains one of the NFL's last true workhorse RBs. The Eagles could opt to lighten the load a bit with Kenneth Gainwell in the mix, but Philly didn't pay Barkley so much money to patrol the sidelines. He is going to be a central cog in new OC Kellen Moore's scheme.

This is also by far the best situation of Barkley's career. He has long been the primary focus of every defensive game plan. Now, Barkley gets to run behind a stellar offensive line, with Jalen Hurts under center and one of the NFL's top wideout rooms flanking him. A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert. That is a lot of firepower for a single defense to contain when Barkley is tossed in.

Comfortable lining up in different formations and increasingly dynamic as a pass-catcher, Barkley should rack up plenty of touches. In fact, some around the league believe his impact will mirror Christian McCaffrey's all-encompassing role in San Francisco.

From ESPN's Jeremy Fowler in a recent SportsCenter appearance:

"The feeling around the league talking to several teams is that Saquon Barkley will make a major impact, maybe even like a Christian McCaffrey-to-49ers type impact because he's never had this sort of supporting cast, this kind of offensive line. He's going to make [Jalen] Hurts' job a lot easier."

NFL execs believe Saquon Barkley-Eagles partnership will mirror Christian McCaffrey and 49ers

Christian McCaffrey is one-of-one — he was putting up absurd numbers with a far less dynamic supporting cast in Carolina — but frankly, Barkley isn't far behind him on the list of top NFL running backs. If there is a team and situation primed to rival the Niners' dominance with McCaffrey, it is Philadelphia with Barkley.

It's tough to gauge the Eagles' outlook after how last season ended. After dominating for two-thirds of the season, Philadelphia fell apart at the seams down the stretch. It seems like the necessary parties have taken accountability, from the players to head coach Nick Sirianni, but there's a large burden of proof on the Eagles to prove that their collapse was a fluke — a momentary dip, rather than a true inward fold.

On paper, the Eagles are as talented as any team, with two new coordinators who are well respected in league circles. It's hard to value RBs in the traditional sense nowadays, but Barkley is a dominant possession-eater who can grind out yards after contact and locate fissures in the defense on a regular basis.

McCaffrey is still miles ahead as a pass-catcher, which makes this particular comparison hard to stomach, but Barkley is as gifted a runner as we've ever seen. Assuming he's healthy and operating at full speed, the Eagles are going to benefit tremendously from Barkley's ability to pummel defensive lines and buoy the early-down offense. He could end up running more efficiently than ever considering the wealth of talent around him. Again, Barkley has never been the third or fourth guy on the scouting report. He is in Philadelphia, at least for now.

Eagles fans should be psyched. As for New York Giants fans, well... sorry.