Saquon Barkley hints that he could retire as soon as next year: Eagles star wants to go out like Barry Sanders

One of the most shocking retirements in NFL history came in July 1999 when Barry Sanders stunned the league by announcing that he was done playing football after 10-year career with the Detroit Lions where he made the Pro Bowl 10 times. It’s not often that you see a player retire at the top of his game, but that’s exactly what Sanders did, and now, nearly 30 years later, Saquon Barkley is thinking about doing that same thing. 

During an interview with Chris Long on the latest edition of “The Green Light” podcast, the 28-year-old Barkley was asked if he would be a guy who ends up retiring early or if he would play until the wheels fell off. The Philadelphia Eagles running back then proceeded to give a pretty surprising answer: Barkley said he might consider retiring as soon as next year. 

“I’ll probably be one of those guys that it’ll be out of nowhere. I’ll probably just wake up one day, whether it’s next year or two years or four years, and just be like, ‘Yeah it’s over,'” Barkley said. “I don’t think I will ever lose that passion. I’m just a competitor. … The competitive nature is always going to be there.”

Barkley is well aware that Sanders retired while he was still one of the best running backs in the NFL and it seems that he’s starting to give some serious consideration to also going out that way. 

“One of my favorite players of all time, probably my favorite player of all time, is Barry Sanders, so probably similar to that,” Barkley said of how he’ll go out. “Maybe one day it will be out of nowhere. I’ll probably be ballin’ and just be like, ‘Yeah’ and call it quits.”

Barkley entered the NFL in 2018 when the Giants made him the second overall pick in the draft and he spent six seasons in New York before signing with the Eagles in March 2024. 

What this could mean for Barkley’s retirement timeline

Barkley had one of the best seasons of any running back in NFL history last year. Not only did he help lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl win, but he also became just the ninth player in league history to cross the 2,000-yard mark when he hit 2,005 yards. Twenty-seven years before Barkley earned a spot in the 2,000-yard club, Sanders joined it during an MVP season in 1997. After that huge year that saw Sanders rush for 2,053 yards, the Lions running back only played one more season after that, so if Barkley goes that route, then retiring after the 2025 season could be on the table. 

The most realistic scenario, though, would probably have Barkley playing at least two or three more years. Sanders retired after 10 seasons at the age of 30. When Barkley turns 30 in February 2027, he’ll have just finished his ninth season in the NFL and it’s not easy for a running back to stay on top as they get ready to head into 10th year of their career. It’s also worth noting that Barkley’s current contract with the Eagles expires after the 2028 season, so that could be a good time to call it quits if he’s serious about an early retirement. If he went until his contract expired, that would allow him to retire after 10 seasons, just like Sanders. 

Although Barkley might go the same route as Sanders, one thing to keep in mind is that when Sanders retired, he wasn’t on great terms with the Lions. Things were so bitter that the Lions made Sanders return $5.5 million of his signing bonus money. 

Sanders didn’t feel like the Lions were ever going to win a Super Bowl and it seems that all the losing in Detroit killed his passion to play. 

“For me, just that thing that drove me to play, which is that passion, just wasn’t there,” Sanders said in an Amazon documentary about the Hall of Fame running back. “There was nothing really left to play for. I didn’t see us as any kind of a serious Super Bowl contender. … I felt like I was making a pretty clear decision. I just felt like, in my mind, this is pretty much it.” 

On the other hand, Barkley is going through the opposite situation. Not only is he playing for a team that just won the Super Bowl, but the Eagles have done a good job of showing Barkley just how much they value him. Back in March, they handed him a two-year, $41.2 million extension that made him the highest-paid running back in NFL history. 

As long as Barkley is at the top of his game, it would be a shock to see him retire, but it was also a shocker to see Sanders retire, so if Barkley is planning to go out like his hero, that means his retirement could be coming sooner than anyone thinks.