Eagles' Saquon Barkley Hypes Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, Jonathan Taylor's Historic Running Back

Philadelphia Eagles star Saquon Barkley was excited about the recent contracts signed by fellow top running backs including Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs and Jonathan Taylor.

"I love it. That's how it's supposed to be," Barkley said Thursday, per Zach Berman of The Athletic (h/t Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk). "Christian [McCaffrey] did it before me. I did it after Christian. And now we have three in a row. I look forward to the next guys to do it. It was like that for every other position besides running back. You can see that coming back to life. Those guys are very deserving of it. They're helluva players, make a lot of impact in games for their teams. Their teams are different when they're not on the field. Hopefully in the next 5-10 years, it keeps going higher. That's how it's supposed to go."

On Aug. 4, Robinson signed a three-year extension worth up to $75 million with the Atlanta Falcons.

Two days later, Gibbs agreed to a new three-year deal worth $67.5 million with the Detroit Lions while the Indianapolis Colts handed Taylor a two-year, $44 million extension.

Gibbs, Robinson and Taylor are now the three highest-paid players at their position in terms of average annual value while Barkley ranks No. 4 (via Over the Cap).

Teams haven't always been willing to make a hefty financial commitment to running backs, as Barkley was among several players that held a meeting to discuss the depressed market for the position in July 2023.

At the time, the NFL was coming off a 2022 season in which all 32 teams spent a combined total of $250 million on running backs (via Spotrac).

For the 2026 season, teams are set to spend $550 million at the position.

While Barkley may no longer own the highest salary among running backs, he's still pleased about the financial future for top backfield options moving forward.