Carson Steele says Saquon Barkley has been the best running-back room mentor he has ever been around, and he says that influence is showing up every day. Steele said he has been watching Barkley for a long time, but being in the same room with him has made the lesson feel immediate.
That matters now because Barkley’s presence is not just about production. Steele, 23, signed a futures contract with the Eagles in the offseason after spending 2024 with the Kansas City Chiefs, where he made three starts as a fullback and had 72 yards in one game. He is trying to learn his way into a crowded room, and the veteran at the center of it is setting the tone before and after practice.
Steele described Barkley as a player whose success is impossible to ignore and whose example carries into the smallest parts of the day. “It’s amazing to see it every day,” Steele said. “Sometimes people take it for granted, but just watching him and all the success he’s had and now being him as your mentor, being in a room, learning from him has really helped me.” He said Barkley is also “a really great dude” away from football, the kind of teammate who talks about life as easily as he talks about the game.
That daily pattern is visible after practice, where Barkley rarely leaves without stripping off his pads and signing footballs, jerseys and whatever else fans bring him. He was also out playing with several kids after Monday’s practice, a small scene that says as much about him as any stat line. Steele said, “That’s the one thing I wish people could see,” because the behavior that earns praise in private is the same behavior fans can watch up close.
The friction is that admiration does not guarantee a long stay. Steele’s praise paints Barkley as the kind of teammate every room wants, but Steele’s own odds of making the Eagles are still long. That is the hard part of NFL life: a player can be learning from one of the league’s best runners and still be fighting for something far less certain than a roster spot. For Steele, the lesson is useful either way. For now, he is getting a close look at how Barkley works, how Barkley treats people and how Barkley keeps showing up, which may be the most valuable part of the assignment even if his next chapter is unresolved.
