Saquon Barkley is the first Philadelphia Eagle to appear on the cover of the Madden NFL video game since former quarterback Donovan McNabb in 2005.
Unlike McNabb, Barkley is not a homegrown Eagle drafted and brought up by the organization. To some, Barkley is a defector, as a former member of the rival New York Giants.
The decision by the Giants to let Barkley leave the organization has been criticized as one of the worst mistakes in recent history after the running back led the Eagles to the Super Bowl and broke the franchise rushing record.
“They made a real big mistake, and I think it’s going to cost them a little bit,” McNabb told Fox News Digital of the Giants.
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To McNabb, the Giants’ decision to let Barkley go may not be as bad a decision made by the Eagles over a decade earlier.
McNabb, who played his entire Eagles career under former Philadelphia head coach and current Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid, believes his former team made a mistake by firing Reid after the 2012 season. The Eagles traded McNabb to the rival Washington Redskins (now the Commanders) three years before that.
“There’s a couple mistakes they made. I was first and Andy followed,” McNabb said. “Now you sit back, and you start to watch, and you see how [Reid’s] career has gone to a different level.”
Reid has won three Super Bowls with the Chiefs and gone to two more after reaching one and losing it with the Eagles. Reid is also credited with drafting and developing Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
To McNabb, the “mistake” of the Eagles firing Reid was bigger than that of the Giants letting go of Barkley.
“To be honest with you, I’ll say the Eagles losing Andy,” McNabb said when asked the bigger mistake between the two.
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“With Saquon, it’s new, it’s fresh. But I go back years ago with the success that I had with Andy, and I’d say, after I left, things were a little up and down. It wasn’t as consistent as it was, and he was to blame for it. And you look at what Andy has done now and what possibly he could have done if he was still in Philadelphia. I’d think that Andy would rank first in that decision that they made.”
Despite a successful 14-year coaching career in Philadelphia, Reid has already accomplished more since taking over the Chiefs in 2013.
Reid led the Eagles to a 273-146 (.583) record in Philadelphia with a 10-9 (.526) record in the playoffs but never won a Super Bowl there.
In 12 years leading the Chiefs, Reid has a 143-53 (.730) record with an 18-8 (.692) playoff record.
Still, the Eagles beat Reid’s Chiefs in this year’s Super Bowl, avenging their 2023 Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs.
And Barkley played a big role in that championship season.
“That’s why we just say, ‘Hey, we appreciate you. And good luck to you guys going forward,’” McNabb said of the Giants.
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