Maybe we should have seen the Saquon Barkley signing all along.

The Eagles haven't paid big money for a running back since Chip Kelly's ill-fated 5-year, $40 million deal for DeMarco Murray in 2015. That was the year Howie Roseman was banished to the financial side of the building while Kelly assumed full control.

But the Murray signing, along with Ryan Mathews, were disasters, and Kelly was fired before that 2015 season ended. Roseman was put back into power the next season. His first order of business was trading Murray, basically for nothing.

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His next order of business was to devalue the running back position. Presumably forever.

Yet there Roseman was Monday, reportedly plunking down as much as $37.75 million over three seasons for Barkley, easily the best free agent running back available.

Even though the defense was a disaster last season, Roseman added a Maserati to his stable of Porsches on offense.

Think about it. Roseman let Miles Sanders leave in free agency after a career-high 1,269 yards in 2022. He replaced Sanders by trading for D'Andre Swift last April as Swift was entering the final year of his rookie contract.

Swift then had a career year with 1,049 yards rushing. Now Swift is also leaving, reportedly signing a three-year deal worth $24 million with the Chicago Bears.

It wasn't hard to see that Roseman had an affordable plan to replace Swift.

After all, the Eagles have two second-round picks, the perfect spot to draft a running back and have him under team control for four seasons.

And if a veteran like Austin Ekeler was still available in the second wave of free agency, the Eagles could add him for about half of what Swift will be getting. Think LeGarrette Blount coming in May 2017.

But look closer.

Barkley is a star. He was the No. 2 overall pick by the Giants in the 2018 draft. Not only is the Penn State product an elite runner, with three seasons of more than 1,000 yards rushing, but Barkley is an elite receiver out of the backfield, too.

Barkley had 721 yards receiving as a rookie, to go along with 1,307 rushing yards that season for a total of 2,028 yards from scrimmage. Barkley was beset by injuries the next three seasons, including a torn ACL in 2020.

His first full healthy season after that came in 2022, when Barkley had 1,650 yards from scrimmage. Barkley had 962 yards rushing and 280 yards receiving in 14 games last season.

The Eagles saw this first-hand, playing the Giants twice each season. One of the enduring images of the Eagles' 1-6 collapse to end last season was Barkley blowing past rookie edge rusher Nolan Smith in 1-on-1 coverage, then catching a pass over his shoulder and rumbling for 46 yards.

The 6-11 Giants won that game 27-10, and one week later, the Eagles season was over.

Sure, Swift was known as a good receiver out of the backfield, but he's not the runner that Barkley is. Sanders is a good runner, but he's not an accomplished receiver.

And just think about how dangerous Barkley will be in the Eagles' backfield next to quarterback Jalen Hurts, who has rushed for at least 605 yards in each of his three full seasons as a starter. And just think how dangerous that will make receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, along with tight end Dallas Goedert, in the passing game.

We saw this in 2022 when Hurts was more effective as a runner than he was last season. That, in turn, enabled Sanders to have his career year. But so did Brown, with 1,496 yards receiving, and Smith with 1,196.

Opposing defenses will have their hands full trying to figure out where to focus their defenders. And under new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, the Eagles will have new wrinkles to take advantage of everything.

But mostly, we should have seen this coming because of the Eagles defense. As bad as it was last season, ranking 31st in pass defense, 30th in points allowed per game, the Eagles' offense also wasn't as dominant as it was in 2022, although it ranked in the top 10 in several categories.

The Eagles, however, have always believed in offense, in large part to keep the defense off the field. Or at least enable the offense to outscore opponents.

So sure, the Eagles had to address the defense.

They're reportedly signing Jets defensive end Bryce Huff to a three-year deal worth as much as $51.1 million. But Fletcher Cox is retiring and the Eagles are making edge rushers Haason Reddick and Josh Sweat available in trades. It's pretty safe to assume that at least one, if not both, of the Eagles' sack leaders from last season won't return (Reddick had 11, Sweat 6.5).

They'll patch linebacker, safety and cornerback in the draft or with lower-cost free agents, getting younger − and maybe better.

But the Eagles are not scrimping on offense. They gave guard Landon Dickerson a four-year extension worth as much as $84 million, making him the highest-paid guard in the NFL − at least for now. Even though Jason Kelce is retiring, the Eagles' offensive line should still rank among the NFL's best.

And now they're signing Barkley.

"I don't know that I think about it other than how do we improve, how do we get better as quickly as we can?" Roseman said two weeks ago at the NFL scouting combine. "How do we put our resources in the right position, how do we make good decisions after good decisions?"

After all, it doesn't matter how you improve, as long as you improve. The Eagles have done that, and then some, with Barkley.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Eagles Saqon Barkley deal a Howie Roseman master class for Jalen Hurts