PHILADELPHIA -- Saquon Barkley denied any contact with the Philadelphia Eagles prior to the legal tampering period of free agency. The newest Eagles running back made sure to set the record straight of his negotiations with the Eagles.
"Coach (James) Franklin, I think he misinterpreted it," Barkley said with a smile at the NovaCare Complex Thursday. "The truth was to sell basically Penn State. So many Penn State fans are Philadelphia Eagles fans, but that was through my agent. My agent told me that."
The NFL is looking into the Eagles improperly contacting Barkley before he agreed to sign with the team when the legal tampering period opened Monday. A team spokesperson for the Eagles denied the allegations.
Penn State head coach James Franklin, Barkley's college coach, said Tuesday one of the reasons Barkley chose the Eagles because of the proximity to home, along with the opportunity to play near State College again. Franklin and Barkley are close and have been in communication since Barkley left the Nittany Lions after the 2017 season to enter the NFL.
While Franklin was giving a lengthy answer on Barkley going to Philadelphia, he might have implied Barkley and the Eagles were communicating prior to the "legal tampering" period.
"For him now to come back and be able to play within the state in Philadelphia, [Barkley] said that was one of the first things that (Eagles general manager) Howie [Roseman] said to him on the phone as part of his sales pitch to him," Franklin said. "Not only the Philadelphia Eagles but obviously the connection with Penn State and the fan bases as well."
Barkley was headed to Philadelphia anyway, as the opportunity to play close to home was too good to pass up. In fact, when Barkley asked his mom how far the drive was from his hometown of Coplay, she said 50 minutes.
"I was super happy that I was going to come back and stay close to home and play for a great team," Barkley said. "Just ready to get (over) the business side off of it the last two years. I feel like so many people would come up to me about me getting tagged, or talking contract leading up to this.
"And now all of that's done. The business side is done and we can keep the main thing the main thing. And that's going out there and playing football and winning football games."
As for the tampering allegations, Barkley will let the Eagles handle that.
