Saquon Barkley Wants to Follow in Barry Sanders's Footsteps When He Eventually Retires

Saquon Barkley is coming off the best year of his career, which ended with him becoming a Super Bowl champion with the Philadelphia Eagles, and later his selection to grace the cover of Madden 26. Some NFL insiders think his 2025 season could be even better than last year.

At 28 years old, it seems that we could watch Barkley in his prime for quite some time. Or, will we only get a couple more years of watching the running back perform on the field?

On a recent episode of Green Light with Chris Long, Barkley was asked if he would consider retiring during his prime years, similar to how his NFL idol Barry Sanders (at age 31) or three-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald (at age 32) both did. If Barkley follows in their footsteps, he only has a few seasons left in the league at this rate.

"That's a great question," Barkley said. "I'll probably [be] one of those guys that it would be out of nowhere. 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.

"The competitive nature is always going to be there. I like, probably my favorite player of all time is Barry Sanders, so probably similar to that. Maybe one day, like it'll be out of nowhere, I'll probably be ballin', and just be like, yeah, call it quits."