Don't expect some retirement tour from Saquon Barkley.
During a recent appearance on the "Green Light with Chris Long" podcast, Barkley offered insight into how he could go about announcing his NFL retirement. The Philadelphia Eagles star even suggested a potential timeline.
“I’ll probably be one of those guys that it’ll be out of nowhere," Barkley said. "I’ll probably just wake up one day, whether it’s next year or two years or four years, and just be like, ‘Yeah it’s over.' I don’t think I will ever lose that passion. I’m just a competitor.”
Barkley compared himself to legendary running back Barry Sanders, who famously retired at just 30 years old after 10 seasons with the Detroit Lions.
“One of my favorite players of all time, probably my favorite player of all time, is Barry Sanders, so probably similar to that,” Barkley said. “Maybe one day it will be out of nowhere. I’ll probably be balling and just be like, yeah, and call it quits.”
Barkley, 27, is coming off his seventh NFL season. So, if he plays the next three campaigns, he'll then be 30 years old with 10 seasons in the bank -- just like Sanders.
As arguably the best running back in football, Barkley still has multiple high-level seasons left in him. But that might not stop him from retiring sooner than Philadelphia Eagles fans would like.