Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley established himself as a legitimate MVP candidate when he rushed for 255 yards and a pair of touchdowns to go along with 47 receiving yards in a 37-20 “Sunday Night Football” win over the Los Angeles Rams that improved Philadelphia to 9-2 on the season.
Following the victory, Barkley discussed the MVP chatter hovering over him heading into Thanksgiving.
“We’ll start thinking about that when the season’s over,” Barkley said, as shared by Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. “I love being in that conversation. It’s cool and all. But like I said, it’s a team sport. And if you told me that I could have the year I’m having, win an MVP but not win the Super Bowl, or I could have the year I’m having, not win MVP or Offensive Player of the Year and win the Super Bowl, I’m going to take the other one.”
Barkley signing a three-year, $37.75M contract that could be worth up to $46.75M with $26M fully guaranteed to join the Eagles early into free agency could go down as the best move made of this past offseason if he continues to torch defenses through the playoffs. Barkley leads the NFL with 1,649 total yards from scrimmage for the campaign. He now has 12 touchdowns (10 rushing, two receiving) on the season and is a big reason a Philadelphia club that entered its Week 5 bye at 2-2 has since won seven straight contests.
As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Barkley as the betting favorite at -310 odds to win the Offensive Player of the Year Award for the campaign. That same outlet had him third among the betting favorites at +500 odds to earn MVP honors.
Running back Adrian Peterson is the last non-quarterback to win MVP. He did so for the 2012 season.
“I’m thankful to be here,” Barkley said about playing for a Super Bowl contender after he previously featured for what’s become a pitiful New York Giants franchise. “I’m thankful for the fresh start. I had conversations where [I said] I think this is the spot where I can kind of rewrite my story — I feel like I can show everyone the type of player I feel like I can be and was meant to be. And it’s working out right now, but the beauty of it, it’s the NFL and it’s week-to-week.”
Barkley and the Eagles next play at the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. 7-4 Baltimore faces the 7-3 Los Angeles Chargers at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium on Monday night.
