Eagles get slammed for making this notable offseason move

Philadelphia Eagles faithful are hoping to see the team start and finish the 2024 season with a bang, rather than how last year ended. One of the bigger reasons for hope this year?

The offense needs to pick it up, and they should. Having given new deals to both A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, the top two targets are happy and ready to roll. Not only that, but the back field features a former rival and one of the most talented backs in all of football -- the recently-signed Saquon Barkley.

Though Eagles fans are thrilled to have Barkley, especially on those Sundays when he'll face his former team, some aren't too sold on the move.

Bleacher Report's Christopher Knox included the Barkley signing in his recent column outlining the top 10 worst moves of the NFL offseason.

Knox wrote:

"While Barkley is special when healthy, he has struggled to stay near 100 percent throughout his career. In six seasons with the Giants, he produced two Pro Bowl campaigns and three years with fewer than 1,000 rushing yards. Last season, Barkley missed three games and averaged just 3.9 yards per carry.

The reality is that Philly probably could have gone with a much more budget-friendly running back and gotten good results. They went the bargain route with Miles Sanders and D'Andre Swift over the past two years and saw each make the Pro Bowl.

Barkley's history of injuries and inconsistent results makes him a significant risk, and he isn't an ideal long-term fit. He's struggled to stay on the field, he logged 640 touches over the past two seasons, and he'll be 30 years old if he makes it to the end of his new contract."

Saquon Barkley wasn't necessarily a slam-dunk signing, but the upside was too good to pass up

Barkley's 2023 numbers aren't quite a fair assessment of his overall talent, especially considering the Giants' offensive line was one of the worst in all of football and has been a question mark for quite some time.

Coming to Philadelphia, Barkley will be running behind one of the best lines he's ever had in front of him. Looking back just two seasons ago, Barkley averaged a healthy 4.4 yards per carry and totaled over 1,600 yards from scrimmage with 10 touchdowns, playing in 16 games.

Health is a fair concern, but Barkley also suited up and played in 13 games in 2023. Missing a handful of games isn't out of the ordinary for a running back in today's NFL, but 13 out of 17 games for a guy with a history like Barkley? That's a great number.

For a team like Philly, that's been using a group of backs over the last few years, Barkley made a ton of sense. If he's used 15-20 times per game, the continuity of the offense, as a whole, is going to rise. Consistency and continuity are two key factors for an offense to really take off, and that's something the Eagles are hoping to get out of this unit in 2024.