The Philadelphia Eagles did what they never do and paid RB Saquon Barkley. And in doing so, they just demolished the overly emotional Giants. PHILADELPHIA – In the NFL, they’re called tendency-busters.

Saquon Barkley is the zig to every Philadelphia Eagles zag in the Howie Roseman 2.0 era at running back after signing a hefty three-year, $37.75 million contract that could be worth up to $46.75 million with incentives, including $26 million fully guaranteed at signing, per ESPN.

If the Duffer brothers were seeking a Season 5 twist for “Stranger Things,” they needed no further than that news coming from the NovaCare Complex. … Unless, that is, they want to listen to New York radio for the Saquon reaction from “former friend” (we suppose) Tiki Barber.” “You’re dead to us, Saquon!” shouted Barber, the Giants ex who probably mentored Saquon. “You’re dead to me!”

That seems a bit excessive. But nevertheless, it may be argued that Philly’s relocation here breaks both the Eagles’ mold and the Giants’ hearts.

In the modern era, the Eagles had devalued running back to the point that D’Andre Swift was the blue blood of the room in the 2023 season with a salary of just under $1.8 million, an excellent value by the way on the final year of his rookie deal after being acquired in a trade with Detroit during the draft before piling up over 1,000 yards.

Swift cashed that to the tune of a three-year, $24.5 million deal with the Chicago Bears earlier Monday as the NFL’s legal bargaining time with upcoming free agents took off.

The RBs as a whole enjoyed a rejuvenated market after a lackluster year that had many fearing doom this time around. Instead, a weak predicted draft class had Roseman and several other GMs slamming the brakes and conducting 180s at the position.

Few believed it, but Roseman has always argued that there were exceptions to every devaluing rule, and back in 2017, the Eagles were determined to prove that by picking now-San Francisco star Christian McCaffrey with the 14th overall selection.

CMac never got close to Philadelphia, coming off the board at No. 8 overall for Carolina. In the subsequent years, McCaffrey grew into everything the Eagles imagined he was going to be: a generational talent who could dominate in the run-pass combination.

His presence in San Francisco this season was something the Eagles observed in awe, helping convert Brock Purdy into an MVP candidate and the 49ers into a Super Bowl club.

If you can’t have McCaffrey, why not grab the next best thing to supercharge an already good offense with a highly-regarded playcaller in Kellen Moore coming in?

That’s what the Eagles are telling you Barkley is with the deal they handed him—an exception in a sea of JAGs (just a guy). Football is all about evaluation, and if the Eagles are correct, look out. The problem is that Barkley hasn’t looked like a legitimate superstar since his injured ACL in 2020.

He’s still likely going to be an upgrade over Swift in 2023 or Sanders, who had over 1,200 yards rushing on the final year of his rookie deal in 2022, but McCaffrey-like?

Like any contract, once the true statistics come in for Barkley, they will almost surely seem more team-friendly than the immediate agent-driven ones.

No matter the spin, however, this is a major sea change to the way Roseman and the Eagles generally do business for a back who averaged just 4.0 yards per run and 7.0 yards per reception for the New York Giants last season.

Add in the background of a weak offensive line and even poorer quarterback play if you like, and you might even convince yourself that Barkey should be allowed a mulligan before fantasizing about 2018, when he entered the league by storm as the No. 2 overall choice out of Penn State.

In a league that advances faster than Tyreek Hill can cover the 40, 2018 might as well be the Middle Ages. And Saquon is, we presume, going to have to find some new buddies.