Has Saquon Barkley’s trade status changed? It should, and Eagles should also deal Zack Baun | NFL Week 9
He got just 13 carries, three in the second half, in a close game. Only one 2-7 team has ever made the playoffs. It seems meaningless to keep expensive veterans who could be flipped for picks.
Saquon Barkley met with the media in his uniform undershirt and black shorts, eye black still smeared under a single socket like late Philly chanteuse Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes.
Barkley spoke early, as soon as reporters were allowed into the locker room. Two years after his historic rushing season led them to a Super Bowl win, the Eagles had just lost a seventh straight game. It was the first seven-game slide since 2012. He testified to his belief in his coaches and their hard work, his disappointment that he and his teammates weren’t producing for their bosses, and his faith that the 2-7 Eagles would turn things around after the bye.
Then things happened that made you wonder if he really will be here after the bye.
Marcus Hayes alerts
The trade deadline is Tuesday. The Eagles had assured Barkley that he won’t be traded, but that was before losses last week at Washington and Sunday to the visiting Giants.
About 30 minutes after he spoke to the press Sunday, Barkley emerged from the double-doored alcove and the office where Nick Sirianni, Jeffrey Lurie, and Howie Roseman confer after games. Sunday was the last feasible time for Eagles leadership and Barkley to meet in person, since players can be absent for four days during their bye week.
Barkley returned to his locker, finished dressing, spoke briefly with an athletic trainer, then left the locker room.
He was pensive.
A few minutes later, Sirianni addressed the press. He usually is very late for these sessions, but Sunday he was even 30 minutes later than usual. He was asked why. He thanked the press for waiting, then said, “A couple other guys stop in the office and just through it. ... You know, that’s not unusual.”
Actually, it is very unusual. Especially when the trade deadline was 48 hours away.
Does that mean, despite the messaging the Eagles sent other teams and what they told Barkley, that they wanted to discuss a possible move with Barkley? Sirianni refused to reveal the subject of the meeting.
At any rate, it should. Barkley, now healthy, would bring at least a second-round pick and a later-round pick. He has been an elite Eagle, a warrior in every sense, a high-character leader and a consummate professional.
He deserves to have another chance at winning. That won’t happen in Philadelphia.
» READ MORE: Sielski: The Eagles are so bad that all you can do is laugh through the seven-game losing streak
The Eagles have a lot of long-term needs. This is a rebuild.
The offensive line is a shambles. The offensive coaching is delusional. Their top two receivers have been injured for weeks. This season is lost. If Roseman really thinks the offense will be much better next season, then he’s delusional, too.
Still, Roseman told Barkley not to worry.
Then again, that was when the Eagles were 2-5, and eight teams had made the playoffs after a 2-5 start, including the 2021 Eagles. Only one team has ever made the playoffs after a 2-7 start: The 2020 Commanders won the NFC East at 7-9.
Maybe the Birds’ brain trust was reaffirming to Barkley that he would stay.
Which seems pointless.
Barkley would be the biggest Eagles name likely to move, while tight end Dallas Goedert is probably the most likely. Goedert said Sunday that he, like Barkley, had spoken to Roseman before the Eagles’ two latest losses, but, unlike Barkley, Roseman did not ensure he would stay.
Pro Bowl linebacker Zack Baun, whose contract expires after 2027, got no promises either. He had two sacks Sunday before leaving with a back injury, which, he said after the game, was not an issue. Notably, Baun returned to the field but did not play again, possibly signifying to trade partners that, yes, he was healthy, but no, the Eagles weren’t going to risk a more significant injury.
» READ MORE: Hayes: The Eagles defense has turned a corner. Nick Sirianni and the offense are wasting it.
Given the progress of Jeremiah Trotter Jr., whom the Eagles control through 2027, it might make more sense to let him play the rest of this meaningless season, earn an extension, and trade Baun. He has been the mirror image of Barkley on defense: An outstanding person, a magnificently productive player, and a winner. As such, he should be allowed to play for one.
As for the others, veteran cornerback Riq Woolen’s departure seems a fait accompli, even to him. If healthy, it makes sense to move guard Landon Dickerson, a continually injured talent whose play hasn’t matched his money this year and seems unlikely to match it the remaining two years on his deal. Defensive tackle Moro Ojomo also seems a no-brainer to trade, even though the Eagles have sent rumblings that they might extend his deal.
Notably, both Dickerson and Ojomo declined to talk after Sunday’s game.
Barkley’s usage also has been ... notable.
Barkley missed two games with a hamstring injury but returned three games ago against Dallas. He played 10 snaps and carried the ball six times, but he still looked gimpy. Last week, Barkley played 22 snaps, carried the ball 13 times, and looked fine. Sirianni afterward admitted Barkley had been on a “pitch count” since his return.
However, on Sunday, while he played 41 snaps, close to a normal workload, Barkley again had just 13 carries, and just three in the second half despite the game never being too far out of reach. The score shouldn’t matter, since Barkley’s ability to explode for long runs negates any argument that, like most running backs, his presence limits the chance for big plays.
Unless, of course, the Eagles wanted to make sure he didn’t hurt himself on any big plays.
Five combined DPOYs
It might be trade season, but the biggest trade of the year happened June 1, when two-time Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett went from the Browns to the Rams. Garrett’s arrival coaxed three-time DPOY Aaron Donald out of a two-year retirement, but Donald wasn’t ready for Game 1 (he also missed Game 4 in Philly, but the Rams won anyway). Garrett, meanwhile, did not play for seven weeks after Game 1. When they finally got together on Sunday at Washington, Garrett had three sacks, one of them a strip-sack, in a 20-13 win. Donald remains sack-less.
Extra Points
As they stand at 5-2-1 atop the putrid NFC East, the Giants are looking to bolster their running game and could sweeten a deal for Colts back Jonathan Taylor in which they reportedly offered second- and fifth-round picks. ... In Indianapolis, the Cowboys gained 508 total yards but still needed a 46-yard bomb from Dak Prescott to set up a game-winning plunge with 63 seconds to play for a 27-23 win. The Cowboys are 4-5 and hold second place in the NFC East. ... Patrick Mahomes hurt his elbow but continued to play as the Chiefs blew out the Jets, while Justin Herbert hurt his finger and left the game as the Chargers got blown out by the Texans and C.J. Stroud’s five touchdown passes, two of which went exactly 63 yards. ... Bears quarterback Caleb Williams went full Jekyll-and-Hyde on Sunday Night Football, ripping two TD passes in a masterful first 20 minutes before throwing three interceptions in his next nine snaps, including back-to-back picks. He added a fourth interception in the third quarter, a career-high, but two plays later the Bucs’ Baker Mayfield fired a pick-six, his second interception of the game. Anyway, the Bears won on a last-second field goal. The six picks were the most combined interceptions in any game this season. ... Deshaun Watson, the controversial Browns starter, might just be controversial after Shedeur Sanders started Sunday and played well in a 23-22 overtime loss to the Saints. Watson, who has been winning ugly, cleared concussion protocol in time to play but Sanders got the start anyway. Browns coach Todd Monken would not say if Sanders or Watson would be his starter in the second half of the season. The Browns are 5-4 in a crowded AFC North.
With the Eagles’ season gradually going up in flames, there’s been plenty of external fingerpointing. The offense, specifically the line, has drawn considerable ire, especially in light of the Eagles parting ways with longtime, beloved assistant coach Jeff Stoutland. Stoutland’s track record on the offensive line is Hall of Fame-worthy. This year, with Chris Kuper as Stoutland’s replacement, the line has regressed.
Should Kuper shoulder most of the blame? What really happened between Stoutland and the Eagles that caused their relationship to fall apart? The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane dives deeper into one of the biggest “what ifs” from a frustrating season, framing Stoutland’s exit around four key questions. Listen here.
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