Saquon Barkley's Super Bowl Season – What it Means For The Hobby

Jan 26, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) runs with the ball for a touchdown against the Washington Commanders during the first half in the NFC Championship game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
Jan 26, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) runs with the ball for a touchdown against the Washington Commanders during the first half in the NFC Championship game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
In this story:

Saquon Barkley is having an all-time great season, and it has helped push the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl. Barkley has played a pivotal role all season, rushing for over 2000 yards, becoming only the 9th rusher to do so in a season. Saquon had a chance to break the all time record, needing only 101 yards on the last day, but chose something more important.

His Health.

As the saying goes, “the greatest ability, is availability”, and he didn’t want to risk injury and jeopardize the team's ultimate goal: being Super Bowl champions.

Saquon Barkley burst onto the scene as the 2nd overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He went on to have an incredible rookie season, rushing for over 1300 yards, while also catching 91 passes for 721 yards for the NY Giants. This resulted in winning the Rookie of the Year, while also being selected to his only All-Pro selection.

For the first almost two years, Barkley’s 2018 Prizm PSA 10 base RC would range from $25 to $70 before the sports cards boom. Right around the beginning of the 2020 NFL, his cards spiked as you would commonly see his cards reach near $400.

Saquon Barkley Prizm PSA 10 RC
Saquon Barkley Prizm PSA 10 RC / Picture credited to Cardladder

In the second game of the season, Barkley tore his ACL and was out for the rest of the year. 2021 fans of NY still believed, and his cards would reach $280. As the season progressed, Barkley was a shell of himself, and as the card market corrected, and dropped, so did his cards. Even with a great 2022, and an ok 2023, collectors were still not paying top dollar. I am not sure if the fear of him getting hurt drove the collectors to not buy, but his 2018 Prizm RC in 2023 never peaked higher than $56 (outside of 2 outliers in early January).

Saquon Barkley RC History
Saquon Barkley RC History / Picture credited to Cardladder.com

2024 was like a rebirth for Saquon Barkley. After catching on with the Philadelphia Eagles, showing the city what he was capable of, and playing for a winning team, he truly put them on his back. What is more incredible, and deserving, the hobby is taking notice. His rookie card at the beginning of the season was hovering around $56, but now expect to pay $140.

His card continues to rise with every rush, every catch, and every win. There is one more win to go!


Published |Modified