Eagles Will Rest Saquon Barkley In Week 18, Rather Than Pursuing Rushing Record

Eric Dickerson's rushing record is safe. Saquon Barkley will not play in Week 18 against the New York Giants. 

Nick Sirianni announced the decision in his New Year's Day meeting with the media: 

#Eagles HC Nick Sirianni: “We’re gonna rest some guys” on Sunday.

Saquon Barkley will be one. pic.twitter.com/fxu7hadeT2

— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) January 1, 2025

Considering the Eagles are locked into the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs — and have nothing to gain or lose with a win or a loss — it's not surprising to see a team with Super Bowl aspirations make this decision. 

Barkley did become the ninth running back in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season in last week's win over the Dallas Cowboys, joining Dickerson, Adrian Peterson, Jamal Lewis, Barry Sanders, Derrick Henry, Terrell Davis, Chris Johnson and O.J. Simpson. He'll finish the season with 2,005 rushing yards, the eighth-most in a single season. He's going to win Offensive Player of the Year, in all likelihood. 

In his first campaign with the Eagles, Barkley will finish 101 yards shy of breaking Dickerson's single-season record of 2,105 yards, which he set with the Los Angeles Rams in 1984. If Barkley had broken the record in Week 18, he would have done it over a 17-game season, as opposed to the 16-game season Dickerson set the record in. Some suggested it would have had an asterisk if Barkley had done that in Week 18, although that ignores a few things. First of all, Dickerson set the record over 16 games, breaking Simpson's record, which he set in a 14-game season. Secondly, this is the fourth year of the 17-game season, and Barkley is the first to rush for even 1,850 yards, let alone come close to the record. Finally, the record is eventually going to be broken by someone, whether it's during a 17-game season or when the league inevitably goes to 18 games. 

With all that said, Barkley leads the NFL in both touches (378) and attempts (345). The Eagles won't have a first-round bye, so they'll need to win four postseason games to earn the second Super Bowl title in franchise history. There's a case to be made for chasing history regardless, but from the perspective of the team, this is probably the right decision to assure Barkley is healthy and as fresh as possible come Wild Card Weekend. 

It would have been quite the flex for Barkley to break the rushing record against the Giants, the team that allowed him to walk in free agency. But it's probably an even bigger flex for Barkley and the Eagles to essentially deem the game meaningless.