Howie Roseman’s shocking decision to sign the former Giants RB will likely go one of two ways.

Sometimes player agents use your sports team to create a market for their client.

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman is renowned for his aggressiveness, especially when coming off a disappointing season. We knew he was going to try and make a splash this off-season, so when the rumors started flying about Philadelphia’s interest in signing the No. 1 running back on the market, Saquon Barkley, most responded the same way I did.

No way.

Most of us assumed the Eagles were being used to drum up a bigger payday for the former Penn State star, and even as more and more insiders insisted there was real smoke to this fire, we didn’t believe them. After all, Roseman has never, never, spent top-of-the-market money on a running back.

Of course, it appears Roseman has shocked everyone with the reported $12.5 million a year deal for the former Giant, making him the 4th-highest paid running back in football. While the Eagles do still have cap space to make additions to the defense (they added a couple cheap linebackers and will almost certainly bring in a safety as well), it was assumed most of their big splash additions would be on that side of the ball.

The reported signing of free agent Bryce Huff qualifies, but it’s the Saquon signing that has received all the attention, and rightfully so, because it’s clear the Eagles are doing something totally out of their character. It’s either a panic move in reaction to last season’s collapse, or a brilliant offensive addition that they hope will have an impact similar to that of Christian McCaffrey with the 49ers.

Barkley will feature prominently in whatever the Eagles want to do in Kellen Moore/Nick Sirianni’s offense. He’s still outstanding as a runner, is one of the best receivers out of the backfield and, not to be forgotten, is fantastic in blitz pickup too, a skill that could become even more impactful with the departure of Jason Kelce.

The addition of Barkley, on its face, is great. In terms of resource allocation, however, it could be seen in a more negative light.

The Eagles drafted Miles Sanders in the second round and ran with him until it came time to pay him real money. They traded for D’Andre Swift last off-season and got a 1,000 yard season out of him, but didn’t have to lay out anything of significance for his services. Jay Ajayi, LeGarrette Blount, and Corey Clement were the running backs for their Super Bowl team.

With so many needs on the defensive side of the ball and an offense that doesn’t seem to really need a superstar running back to function at a high level, the addition of Barkley seems unnecessary. Will there be enough money to go around to get an impact safety? Will they have enough to make a more substantial addition at linebacker? How will this affect the salary cap in 2025 and beyond as Hurts’ contract becomes more onerous?

Maybe these worries are overblown, given Roseman’s ability to manipulate the cap year after year.

He has earned a level of trust with the financial ramifications of his deals that should put these concerns on the back burner for now. After all, winning a Super Bowl is the one and only goal for the 2024 Eagles, and with an offensive line in flux, bringing aboard a bell cow running back gives Moore and Sirianni one less thing to worry about.

On paper, the Eagles will feature an offense that could be the best unit in the NFL. And as long as it doesn’t result in having to scrimp on quality players on defense, it’s an A+ move.

The next few days of free agency will go a long way to informing us as to the wisdom of the addition of Saquon Barkley.