Saquon Barkley Opposes 18-Game NFL Season: ‘Hell of a Sport’

Eagles running back Saquon Barkley says he is opposed to a potential 18-game NFL regular season.

“I can’t speak on how players feel,” Barkley told Dan Roberts of Front Office Sports. “How do I feel about it? I’m not a fan of it. I actually don’t agree with it, to be completely honest. Yeah, and so if it’s up to me and up to my vote on that particular thing that they want to change, I don’t think so. … I’m all about players’ health. And I don’t see how any way adding another game is advantageous to our health for the now and for the future.”

The NFL and team owners are expected to propose an 18-game season to the NFL Players Association. For now, talks on that topic and other issues related to the collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and NFLPA are on hold while JC Tretter, the union’s executive director who was elected in March, speaks to players on his team-by-team visits.

The current CBA runs through the 2030 season and specifically prohibits the league and owners from unilaterally extending the regular season beyond 17 games per team.

“It’s a hell of a sport,” Barkley told FOS. “Put a lot of wear and tear on your body. I know for the position I play, you get to see the ugly side of football. And you go through the injuries and you see your friends and you see people, your loved ones go through it. But I don’t see, outside of making the NFL more money—and which, if we work it out in the CBA, I guess could in [turn] come and make us more money, depending on how you negotiate it.

“But me personally, if you talk about the best way I can answer it for player safety, I don’t see how adding another game is good for player safety. And that’s just kind of my stance on it. But I know some people agree and a lot of people disagree with it.”

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott recently told Baker Machado of FOS that considerations such as player compensation and an additional bye week during the season could be persuasive in the 18-game deliberations.

“I think those two things … would be vital and be necessary for the 18th game to happen,” Prescott told FOS. “I mean, I don’t know of anybody out there that’s saying, ‘Yeah, let’s go work another day on the job or whatever it may be for free.’ … My view on it is, if it’s better for the game, I’m always looking for an opportunity to play, to display my love for this game and passion for it in front of our fans. I get that there’s a certain number of too many games. And we’re probably getting to that limit. But I don’t know if one more hurts us.”

Barkley On Jalen Hurts

Barkley told FOS it’s “fair” for Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts to “take some time away a little bit and kind of reflect on everything,” adding he believes that Hurts’s issues with blood clots will be “just a bump in the road” for the former Super Bowl MVP.

Hurts is expected to be sidelined for at least the remainder of this season while being treated with blood thinners after blood clots were found in his lungs.

The NFL and NFLPA have begun discussions in their process under the CBA of jointly reviewing the medical care given to Hurts.

“I haven’t got to really sit down and, you know, talk to him one on one—a little bit before it kind of progressed to where it progressed to,” Barkley said. “But yeah, I think that’s fair for Jalen right now to be able to take some time away a little bit and kind of reflect on everything that’s going on. But the best [way] I can answer that is that the guy that I know, that comes to work single day, that this is just a bump in the road.

“And he’s a God-fearing man. And, you know, we can’t make sense of it right now, why that happened. But everything happens for a reason. … This is part of his journey. And God is also going to direct him and give him direction when he comes back and play at a high level.”

No Hard Feelings Toward Giants

Barkley told FOS that he has no animosity toward the Giants, his first NFL team.

“I have no hate in my heart for New York football, for the New York football Giants,” he said. “I actually have nothing but the most respect for that organization. It didn’t work, right? … That happens in business sometimes, right? You guys can’t come to [an] agreement.”

Barkley agreed last year to a two-year, $41.2 million contract extension with the Eagles after originally signing a three-year, $37.75 million deal with them in free agency in March 2024.

“I want it to be known that, like, this is part of my journey,” he said. “And I just have so much love and respect for that organization and all my teammates that were there. But it just didn’t happen … and you move on. I’m grateful that, like, in that opportunity when I moved on, I was able to find a new spot and it worked out really well for me. … I have nothing but tremendous respect for that organization.”

Roberts pointed out that some Giants fans would like to see Barkley return to the team at some point.

“I’m focused on where my feet is,” Barkley said. “And just right now obviously the season is not going the way we want [it] to go. But everything we want is still in front of us. I’ve got to get healthy and try to be the leader I can and try to turn this thing around.”