Getty Image / Jamie Sabau
Saquon Barkley seems like he is going to be a perfect fit in the Philadelphia Eagles offense. But, many thought the way that the Philadelphia Eagles signed Barkley away from the New York Giants involved some tampering.
The NFL ultimately cleared the Philadelphia Eagles of any wrongdoing on Thursday, after interviewing a ton of people involved in the pursuit of the star running back. And, for some reason, that included Saquon Barkley’s college coach, James Franklin.
A statement from the NFL on the #Eagles:
After a thorough review of the Philadelphia Eagles signing of Saquon Barkley, the NFL today informed the club that the investigation did not discover sufficient evidence to support a finding that the Anti-Tampering Policy was violated.…— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 13, 2024
Why would they need to interview James Franklin? Obviously, high-level college football coaches do have connections with NFL teams. NFL teams frequently rely on those coaches for information about players in the league, whether they’re about to be drafted or are already in the NFL. But, it still seems like quite a stretch to claim that James Franklin had any pertinent information on Saquon Barkley’s free agency and possible tampering by the Eagles.
Saquon Barkley and James Franklin do remain pretty close after his stellar career at Penn State from 2015-2017. I’m biased as a Penn State grad who was in college during that time and was around the football program, but was there anyone in the last decade more fun than Saquon Barkley at Penn State?
His run in the Rose Bowl against USC in 2017 is the greatest sports play I’ve ever seen in person in my entire life. I was in the end zone opposite of where he scored, and it was as if he had the star power-up in Super Mario where he’s invincible.
Now, he will go to the Philadelphia Eagles, as the two agreed to a 3-year, $37.5 million contract with the Eagles back in March.
Penn State’s offensive lines definitely improved during his time as a Nittany Lion, but they weren’t elite. And, the offensive line of the New York Giants in his first six years in the league has arguably been the league’s worst. Now, even with the loss of Jason Kelce, the Eagles will have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. That should help Saquon Barkley to a great season and help a Philadelphia offense that didn’t always get great production out of its running backs last year.