Shortly after the Eagles helped Barkley secure the first championship ring of his career, he revealed what he said to Roseman as the two embraced on the Philadelphia sideline.
“I hugged him and I said, ‘Thank you for believing in me,'” Barkley said about his chat with Roseman, as shared by Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. “One of our first conversations, he promised me that we were going to be here and that confetti was going to fall down on us, and we’d be smiling and hugging. So, I’m thankful to the Eagles organization and everyone in it. But Howie really believed in me.”
Barkley played in two playoff games and just one postseason win, both of which occurred in January 2023, during his New York Giants tenure that ran from the opening night of the 2018 NFL Draft through the 2023 season. He and the Giants couldn’t come to terms on a multiyear contract from the fall of 2022 up until he featured for the club during the 2023 campaign on a one-year agreement, and Giants general manager Joe Schoen then let Barkley reach free agency last March.
Some said last offseason that Roseman overpaid to secure Barkley’s services by giving the ball-carrier a three-year, $37.75M contract with $26M fully guaranteed at signing. Barkley then emerged as both the Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year, who led the league with 2,283 yards from scrimmage, and as a key leader for an Eagles side that endured a brutal collapse in the second half of the 2023 season.
Following Sunday’s victory, Barkley was able to reflect on the lows he endured up until he signed with the Eagles roughly 11 months ago.
“It took seven years to get here — some ups and downs, some injuries,” Barkley acknowledged. “But coming here and being a part of this team, I remember the first time I was in the huddle, and I looked to my left and looked to my right and could see all the Pro Bowlers and all the All-Pros on the roster and on the offense. The defense, I ain’t gonna lie, I didn’t know we would have the No. 1 defense. It kind of makes sense now because with all the talent that we had, they gave us hell in practice in camp.”
Barkley also suggested the Eagles could be on the cusp of a dynastic run after the Chiefs served as the league’s best franchise from February 2020 through the start of Sunday’s action. The 28-year-old is still in his prime and is one reason some believe Philadelphia could play on Super Bowl Sunday next February.
As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Eagles as the betting favorites at +600 odds to win Super Bowl LX.
