“It’s a mistake” - Eagles icon LeSean McCoy makes feelings known as Nick Sirianni confirms Saquon Barkley’s fate

Saquon Barkley entered Week 18 just 101 yards shy of etching his name in the NFL's history books. As the eyes of the world fixated on the fact that he was on the cusp of history, Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni delivered a major update, telling reporters that Barkley will not play in Week 18, ending his chase for the NFL's highest single-season rushing yards total.

However, franchise legend LeSean McCoy believes the team made the wrong call. On the Wednesday night edition of FS1's The Facility, McCoy laid out a few reasons why he believes the Eagles are committing a mistake:

“It’s a mistake if you don’t let him chase the record.

“If we’re playing the Giants and you tried to get rid of my man, you tried to devalue him as a running back? Now he can set the record on you? Everything’s playing out perfectly. Play that game, man. This is bigger than just Saquon Barkley."

Sirriani earlier told reporters:

"It's a very special record that's been standing for a very long time by a great player. It's a team record that everybody is involved in, so you weigh in all those things. But at the end of the day, you just try to do what's best for the team. Again, when the bye was, how guys are feeling, the bumps and bruises we can take care of.

"We've put ourselves in a position to be able to be in this situation."

Barkley will now end the season with 2,005 rushing yards, becoming the ninth RB to rush for over 2,000 yards in NFL history in a list that also includes Derrick Henry, O.J. Simpson and Barry Sanders.

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LeSean McCoy believes Eagles missed opportunity to make a statement

The Eagles legend added that letting Barkley break Eric Dickerson's record would have set an example for future generations of running backs:

“They tried to devalue the running back market. They tried to say, 'Oh we’re not that good anymore and they want to pay us pennies. Now we can set the record straight. You need running backs. Everyone who got paid as a running back, they’re balling out.'

"To the new generation of running backs this sets a stand where I know you want to pay quarterbacks everything, but you need running backs.”

Barkley, of course, would have had the opportunity to break the record against the New York Giants, the team that prioritized handing Daniel Jones a $160 million deal instead of making arguably the league's most exciting running back stay.

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