Three Saquon Barkley Free Agent Destinations

NFL free agency is set to open on March 11 and there are a whole lot of exciting running backs available for teams to sign. The teams themselves may no longer value the position very much but they remain among the best athletes on the field and great running backs are prone to highlight-reel plays on any given snap. So much talent at the position hitting the open market at one time will make for a fun free agency season, even if their impact is marginalized in comparison to previous seasons.

Saquon Barkely is one of those running backs. After an outspoken holdout following the New York Giants' application of the franchise tag to prevent him from becoming a free agent last offseason, Barkley played out 2023 on a modified one-year deal that was not really a win but apparently more acceptable to sign than the tag. In a season where everything went sideways at the Meadowlands Barkley was perhaps the lone bright spot, rushing for 962 yards and six touchdowns in 14 games. He also added 41 catches for 280 yards and another four touchdowns. It wasn't his best year stats-wise but pretty good in proportion to how terrible the Giants were.

Now he'll be hitting the open market, as he wanted all along, and the Giants probably aren't going to bring him back. Bridges have been burned and GM Joe Schoen clearly has no interest in a long-term deal. That will probably be Barkley's priority heading into free agency, which means he may have to sacrifice on the annual salary front. That broadens the possibilities a bit.

Here are three possible destinations for Barkley once free agency opens on March 11.

Houston Texans

The Texans are far and away the front-runner in the Barkley sweepstakes. They have a need at the position with Devin Singletary hitting free agency. Singletary had a good season in 2023 but it was his best year in the NFL by a wide enough margin that it's probably safe to consider it an outlier. Replacing him with a star back is the right move with CJ Stroud under contract for the next four seasons on a rookie deal. They can afford to overpay Barkley a bit relative to their competitors to make him feel wanted, and any help they can get on the offensive side of the ball for their budding star quarterback is money well spent.

Which is pretty much what this all comes down to. The Texans are in the best position in football right now. They have a great quarterback who will not break the bank anytime soon. Overspending on Barkley to improve production out of the backfield is fine. Encouraged, even. And if they can get him to sign a market-rate deal to join an up-and-coming contender? Even better. At this point it looks pretty darn likely Barkely is a Texan for 2024.

Dallas Cowboys

Buuuuuut, as we know, anything can happen in negotiations. If the Texans don't work out for whatever reason then the other Texas team is also in need of a running back. The Cowboys didn't get much out of Tony Pollard after he came back from a nasty leg injury and played on the franchise tag in 2023. The easy option is to ink him to a nice and cheap deal and bank on a bounceback. But this is a big season for Dallas, one in which many jobs will be lost on the sideline and the field if things don't go well. They may want to go for a splashy name to prove to the fans that they are serious about competing this year.

Barkley would qualify as such. He'd make an excellent offense even more dangerous and could take revenge on the Giants at least twice next season. They currently have no money to spend and will not have a ton even after renegotiating and extending some deals, but if Barkley finds the market is dead due to how many other good running backs are available then there's no better place to end up than Dallas. Half their games are on national television every year. He can boost his profile on a winning team, stacking touchdowns and wins in equal measure in order to cash in next offseason. A risky bet but one that could be worth taking depending on how things shake out.

Philadelphia Eagles

Last year proved that the Eagles should not and probably cannot make the whole rushing attack plane out of Jalen Hurts. The star quarterback spent the second half of the season banged up and it hindered him in more ways than his ability to run the ball. Philly should be interested in getting him some backfield help since D'Andre Swift is a free agent and Kenneth Gainwell tries his best but isn't going to get it done alone. Barkley would be a tremendous addition, both in that it sticks it to the Giants and in that he'd be an electric component of an already-loaded offense.

It would be fair to point out that Philly's problem probably won't be scoring points next season and they need to use their money to fix a defense that fell to pieces down the stretch last season. But Barkley's sheer presence could transform both the running and the passing game and gives the Eagles another 250-ish carries. Hurts' ability to run is part of what makes him a winning quarterback but that doesn't mean Philly should be fine with leaving him as the only threat out of the backfield on any given week. This could be a good fit for both sides.