Soon, Saquon Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense will be running a new playbook for a new offensive coordinator.
Earlier this week, the Eagles announced that they cut ties with Kevin Patullo after just one season. For the third time in three years, Barkley will be playing for a different offensive coordinator.
A new voice on the headset could call for a change of strategy for Barkley, who understandably took on a massive workload over the past two years. After getting a glimpse of Tank Bigsby throughout the 2025 NFL season, one might wonder if the Eagles have a bigger role planned for the veteran rusher in 2026.
If that’s the case, Barkley seems to welcome the idea of seeing Bigsby potentially cut into his carries.
“I am all about winning football games,” Barkley told The Philly Voice.
“I think my resume kind of speaks to that since I’ve been playing football, not even just … since I started playing football at 8 years old but from when I was 18 at Penn State until now. If that’s something that the team feels will help, I think Tank is a hell of a back, and I will be all about that if it’s going to help us win football games.”
In 2025, Bigsby joined the Eagles via trade after appearing in just one game with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He took on 58 carries for 344 yards (5.9 YPC). He hasn’t been a high-volume rusher since entering the NFL in 2023, but he’s one of the league’s best in the yards per carry category since joining the Jags.
It’s worth it for the Eagles to invite more help for Barkley next year. While Barkley’s carries were down to 280 after a career-high 345 in 2024, the Eagles have to preserve their superstar rusher as much as possible, as he approaches his age 29 season, which would mark his ninth year in the NFL.
There’s no doubt that Barkley will remain the Eagles’ feature back as long as he’s healthy, but the next coordinator has the full support of the three-time Pro Bowler to sprinkle more Tank in the mix.
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