Eagles Legend Weighs In On Saquon Barkley MVP Debate

Will the Eagles superstar pick up some hardware after the season?

Dec 8, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles tight end Grant Calcaterra (81) celebrates his touchdown with running back Saquon Barkley (26) during the third quarter against the Carolina Panthers at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Eagles certainly should get a lot of love for their performance this past offseason.

Philadelphia started the 2023 season 10-1 but struggled down the stretch and was knocked out of the playoffs early. The Eagles didn't make it as far in the postseason as they hoped, but clearly, the team had a lot of talent if they were able to get off to the start that they did.

While this is the case, the Eagles' front office didn't just sit around and run things back. The Eagles were aggressive and the best move of the offseason clearly was signing superstar running back Saquon Barkley.

He has electrified the Eagles' offense and has a chance to break both the National Football League single-season rushing record and also the single-season scrimmage yards record.

Barkley has been so good that he has had his name mentioned in the chatter for the Most Valuable Player Award. Most of the time, quarterbacks end up winning the award, but Barkley has been good enough to warrant consideration.

Eagles legend Jason Kelce weighed in on Barkley's case to win the award on 94WIP SportsRadio.

"I don't think he gets MVP unless he breaks that record and I think that would be the one thing that would put him potentially in that conversation," Kelce said. "If he gets that record and the Eagles clinch the bye and No. 1 seed, I don't know how you don't give it to him."

This seems completely fair. It will take a lot for any non-quarterback to win the award. If Barkley is able to surpass Eric Dickerson's rushing record while leading Philadelphia to the top seed, then he should get the award. There's an argument to be made that the biggest reason why the Eagles are in a different position than they were in last year at this point is the performance of Barkley. There are many reasons and the team is firing on all cylinders right now, but Barkley should be considered closely.

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