The Philadelphia Eagles won their second Super Bowl in franchise history with a thunderous 40-22 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, a win so momentous that it might have shifted odds for next year's Super Bowl at sportsbooks across the nation.

Going into Sunday's contest, sportsbooks had lines up -- some for several weeks -- for the Super Bowl champion in 2026, with the Chiefs the consensus favorites at +600, per ESPN BET. However, when the final whistle blew on 2025's game, Kansas City was knocked down to +650 and got as long as +750 at some books.

Meanwhile, the Eagles flew up the odds board, jumping from a fifth-place +800 to a third-place +700 at ESPN BET. Caesars (+625) and DraftKings (+550) now have Philadelphia as the standalone favorite.

The Baltimore Ravens are tied at the top of ESPN BET's board with the Chiefs at +650, while the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions share the third slot with Philly at +700. Despite their having 2024's best regular-season record, there is more uncertainty surrounding the Lions next season that extends to sports betting, as some books have them as long as +1100 for next year's title.

There had already been significant action on the market in the weeks leading up to this year's big game.

One of the more compelling teams to see bets is the Washington Commanders, who made an unexpected run to the NFC Championship Game this postseason. ESPN BET lists the Commanders at +2000 and reports that the second-most tickets (7.4%) and handle (9.7%) are backing them, trailing only the Chiefs (10.8% of bets and 13.3% of handle). DraftKings and FanDuel also report Washington in their top five most-bet teams in the 2026 Super Bowl market.

Another team getting considerable attention is the Cincinnati Bengals, listed at +1600 on ESPN BET and taking the fourth-most bets (7.2%) there. DraftKings says it took a $5,000 wager at +2000 odds for Cincinnati to win next year's Super Bowl that would net $100,000 if successful.

Additionally, Caesars Sportsbook reports taking a $1,000 bet on the Pittsburgh Steelers at +7000 odds to win $70,000.

At the bottom of ESPN BET's Super Bowl 2026 odds board are the New York Giants at 250-1, which is actually longer than their opener of 200-1; FanDuel lists the Giants at an astounding 400-1 to win next year's big game.

NEW ORLEANS -- Patrick Mahomes said during the week that the most disappointing loss of his career came in Super Bowl LV in 2021, when the Kansas City Chiefs fell to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

That defeat, Mahomes said after the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Chiefs 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday night, now has company. Mahomes threw two interceptions -- one returned for a touchdown -- and lost a fumble as the Eagles built a 40-6 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

Two late Mahomes touchdown passes made the final score more respectable but did nothing to curb his disappointment.

"Both [losses] sucked,'' Mahomes said. "There's no way around it. Anytime you lose a Super Bowl, it is the worst feeling in the world. They'll stick with you the rest of your career. These will be the two losses that will motivate me to be even better the rest of my career because you only get so few of these and you have to capitalize on these and they hurt probably more than the wins feel good.''

In addition to cornerback Cooper DeJean's 38-yard interception return for a touchdown, the Eagles scored 10 points off Mahomes' two other turnovers. The last of those was a fumble that led to a Philadelphia field goal and put the Eagles ahead 40-6.

In part because of Mahomes' turnovers, the Chiefs produced only 23 yards and one first down by halftime and trailed 24-0.

"I threw a pick-six, and I threw a pick that they returned to the 5-yard line and they scored immediately after,'' Mahomes said. "When you give the team 14 points, especially a really good football team, a Super Bowl football team, then not a lot of good things happen.

"I put us in a bad spot. Even though we put up some stats at the end of the game, those stats didn't really matter because I'd already kind of lost the momentum for this entire team. I have to be better at not turning it over whenever it's not going my way, trusting my defense, trusting the rest of my team to get those stops until I can figure out what we need to do as an offense.''

The Chiefs went 15-2 in the regular season and advanced to the Super Bowl for the third straight year, but it was a different kind of campaign for Mahomes, who threw for his fewest yards (3,928) in a full season and tied his career low for touchdown passes (26). Through seven games, he had more interceptions (nine) than touchdowns (eight), though he threw only two picks the rest of the regular season.

"I feel like I didn't play to my standard just with the struggles that I had early in this season,'' Mahomes said. "There are things that I have to get better at, and they kind of showed today."

"I'm about to find a way this offseason to combat what defenses are doing to me as far as rush lanes and different coverages that they're playing," he added. "That's the beauty of football is that you never can be satisfied with just coming out there and playing and thinking you're going to have success year in and year out. These defenses are going to continue to get better and better and so I have to get better.

"I take a lot of ownership in that, and I want to hopefully come back and play better football this next season.''

The Chiefs, after winning the Super Bowl in each of the previous two seasons, failed to become the first team to win three straight. They'll hope to rebound from a Super Bowl loss next season better than they did in 2021, the season after getting throttled by the Bucs.

The Chiefs advanced to the AFC Championship Game that campaign but lost to the Cincinnati Bengals. That was the last season in which the Chiefs failed to reach the Super Bowl.

"We'll have to find ways to respond to this adversity,'' Mahomes said. "Hopefully, this will motivate these guys, especially myself, to be even better. It's a short offseason. We have a lot of guys coming back. We'll have some guys that won't.

"But we have to get better so that hopefully we get this opportunity again and we can go out there and capitalize on it.''

NEW ORLEANS -- Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts took a moment to reflect Sunday.

He paused for a few seconds when he was asked about his "journey to the top of the mountain," less than an hour after being named Super Bowl LIX MVP in the Eagles' 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Hurts, who was once benched for teammate Tua Tagovailoa while they played at Alabama, considered his thoughts and smiled. Then, he described his path to the Super Bowl victory as "not normal."

"It's, um," he said before sounding choked up, "it's been a very unprecedented journey. The journey, it's always the beginning until it's the end, and I think, it means a lot."

Hurts described that journey as having a "lot of ups and downs, highs and lows," before he got his first Super Bowl win. One of those lows was a loss to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12, 2023.

Although Hurts accounted for four touchdowns, it wasn't enough to beat Kansas City or Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who threw for three touchdowns and won his second of three Super Bowl MVP awards after the 38-35 victory.

But Hurts was practically perfect in Super Bowl LIX, completing 17 of 22 passes for 221 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, while rushing for 72 yards and a touchdown.

He exited the game to applause with 2:52 left and an insurmountable lead as the Eagles inserted backup quarterback Kenny Pickett in the game.

"He played incredible," Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown said. "He did amazing. ... He was poised the whole game, he was in control, he made checks and he threw dimes. He just gave us opportunities, and when we were covered a little bit, he took off running -- he used his legs."

Hurts became the first quarterback in a Super Bowl to lead both teams in rushing yards since Steve Young in Super Bowl XXIX. He also broke his record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a Super Bowl, surpassing the 70 yards he had in Super Bowl LVII. Hurts is the only quarterback with multiple 50-yard rushing games in the Super Bowl.

He also is the first NFL player to have at least five passing touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns in a postseason.

However, if Super Bowl MVPs could be awarded to a unit, Eagles coordinator Vic Fangio and his defense would have been the runaway winner.

The Eagles defense dominated Mahomes and the rest of the Kansas City offense, forcing three turnovers and keeping the Chiefs out of the end zone for almost three quarters. Fangio was 0-8 against Mahomes and the Chiefs coming into the game.

But with so many candidates on the defensive side -- 2.5 sacks and four pressures for defensive end Josh Sweat, two sacks for defensive tackle Milton Williams, and one interception each by linebacker Zack Baun and cornerback Cooper DeJean -- it was hard to choose a standout.

"The offense was able to score points and take advantage of opportunities, just enough to put points on the board, and the defense, the defense played their ass off," Hurts said. "They played how they played all year. I truly believe offense wins games and defense wins championships."

Though Mahomes and the Chiefs' quest for a record third straight Super Bowl win dominated the headlines leading into Sunday's game, Hurts left no doubt which quarterback deserved MVP honors. Mahomes struggled through three quarters and was sacked a career-high six times while losing a fumble and throwing two interceptions.

"Things come right on time. The last time around, it wasn't our time, it wasn't my time," Hurts said. "Sometimes, you have to accept that you have to wait your turn. ... As great as the performance was, it wasn't enough to win. Going through those emotions and processing those things, that experience, lit a great flame in me and enhanced my desire to win."

NEW ORLEANS -- Defense, the old coaches used to tell us, wins championships.

And though the scoring-happy modern NFL sometimes makes that old saying sound silly, the Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles would like a word.

Sunday night in a city that has hosted a record-tying 11 Super Bowls, the Kansas City Chiefs' quest for Super Bowl history never got off the ground. Philadelphia's swarming defense held Patrick Mahomes and the two-time defending champions to only 23 yards in the first half, led by 24 points at halftime and rolled to a 40-22 victory that kept the Chiefs from becoming the first team to win three straight Super Bowl titles and delivered the second in Eagles history.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, whose cellphone screen saver for the past two years has been a photo of him walking off the Super Bowl LVII field in Arizona surrounded by yellow and red confetti after losing to the Chiefs, was absolutely brilliant. He was selected Super Bowl MVP, throwing for 221 yards, rushing for 72 and accounting for three touchdowns. He threw only five incompletions with one interception for a passer rating of 119.7.

Philadelphia's defense forced three turnovers and held Mahomes and the Kansas City offense to 275 yards, building a ridiculous-looking 40-6 lead before the Chiefs threw a couple of late touchdowns. By that point, it had turned into an all-night party at the end of a weeklong party for Eagles fans in the Big Easy. And in the end, it was the oft-maligned Hurts and Eagles coach Nick Sirianni holding up the Lombardi Trophy.

"This is the ultimate team game. You can't be great without the greatness of others. Great performance by everybody -- offense, defense, special teams," Sirianni said. "We didn't really ever care what anyone thought about how we won, or their opinions. All we want to do is win."

The Eagles took it to the Chiefs and didn't let up. The first half was a mash-up of things that aren't supposed to happen. The Chiefs bottled up Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley, limiting him to 31 yards on 12 carries before halftime. But it didn't matter, partly because Hurts made pinpoint throws and sharp decisions, the Chiefs committed uncharacteristic penalties and Mahomes threw two interceptions -- something he has done only five other times in his career in a half.

"There's things I still need to get better at, and they showed tonight on the biggest stage," said Mahomes, a three-time Super Bowl champion and two-time MVP before turning 30. "I can't be out there making bad plays worse. Sometimes I get to where I want to make a big play to spark us. Tonight they were going to make me be a fundamental quarterback, stay in the pocket and take what was there, and I still have to get better at that."

Mahomes spent more than 10 minutes answering questions about what went wrong and took responsibility for all of it, which is what great quarterbacks and leaders are supposed to do. But this was a total meltdown by the Chiefs, exemplified by a late second-quarter stretch that saw an interception returned for a touchdown, a seven-yard sack of Mahomes on third down and another interception deep in their own territory all within the span of four offensive snaps.

It was at that point that the Eagles' defense knew the night had a chance to be special.

"Three big plays in a row," Eagles defensive lineman Josh Sweat said with a huge smile. "That's when I was like, 'Oh. It's just that day.'"

Yes, as shocking as the Eagles' dominance might have been, the fundamental problem that cost the Chiefs their chance at history was the same one that cost them the Super Bowl four years ago against the Tom Brady-led Buccaneers: They could not protect their quarterback.

Philadelphia generated pressure on 16 of Mahomes' 42 dropbacks in spite of not blitzing once. Veteran Chiefs offensive lineman Joe Thuney, who appeared to solve the team's left tackle problem when the Chiefs moved him from left guard with five games left in the regular season, was manhandled repeatedly by the Eagles' defensive front. Edge pressure from Josh Sweat and Nolan Smith, interior pressure from Milton Williams and Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis ... it didn't matter where it was coming from, Mahomes couldn't do anything against it.

"Just did what we've been doing all year," Sweat said. "That's our pride, being able to rush just four guys and still get it done. Once you get it going, it's like nothing can go wrong."

"Defense wins championships," said Hurts, perhaps one of those old coaches at heart. "We saw how they played today. We saw the difference they made in the game. They gave us opportunities, gave us short fields. And we're able to do what we do."

Hurts capitalized on those opportunities. With Barkley bottled up, Hurts retained his composure, found open receivers and took off running when the situation called for it. He was the game's leading rusher with 72 yards on 11 carries, and he looked completely in control all night.

"We've always said it's about being able to win in different ways," Hurts said. "We've been dominant in the run game. We've been efficient in the passing game. We've just done what needed to be done."

And every time it looked as if the Chiefs might do something to even things out, they made the kind of massive mistake you don't expect from a team that has played in this game five out of the past six years. An unnecessary roughness penalty by Trent McDuffie that extended the drive and led to the Eagles' first points of the game. A forced throw by Mahomes that Eagles rookie cornerback Cooper DeJean intercepted and ran back for a touchdown. A post-play unnecessary roughness penalty by Nick Bolton that turned a third-and-26 into a first-and-10. The second Mahomes interception, which came one play after the Kansas City defense forced a punt and kept the score 17-0 with 1:49 left in the half.

It was the Eagles, not the perennial champion Chiefs, who looked like the more composed and experienced team. It was the underestimated Hurts, not the MVP finalist Barkley, who drove the offense. And it was the defense, which finished last year as one of the NFL's worst and transformed this year into its best, that made life miserable for Mahomes.

The Barkley signing was the headliner of the Eagles' brilliant 2024 offseason, but you can make the case that the hiring of Vic Fangio as defensive coordinator and the drafting of defensive backs Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell were the more important moves. The Eagles have the ninth-highest-paid quarterback in the league, third-highest-paid running back, fourth-highest-paid tight end, highest-paid guard, fourth-highest-paid right tackle and fifth-highest-paid left tackle. They're one of only two teams (along with Tampa Bay) that pay two wide receivers at least $25 million per year. The Eagles have invested a lot of their salary cap into their offense, which means they need to get high-end production from defensive players who don't make top-of-the-market money.

The Eagles led the league this season in defensive snaps played by players on their rookie contracts. They also ranked third in sacks, third in tackles and first in pass rush win rate by players on rookie deals. Their past four draft classes have brought them Milton Williams, Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean, Smith, Carter and the aforementioned rookie defensive backs.

Mitchell's coverage and DeJean's interception were critical to Sunday's victory, but the Eagles got sacks from Williams and rookie Jalyx Hunt to go with the 2.5 that pending free agent Sweat collected. Smith chased down Mahomes on a critical play early in the game and prevented what could have been a big gain. Davis and Carter each were credited with a quarterback hit. It was a total team effort from a defense whose construction was outstanding and whose coaching brought it all together.

Sunday night in New Orleans, it all paid off in the ultimate way for the Eagles -- the hurt that lingered from two years ago, when they let the Chiefs hang around and come back to beat them in Super Bowl LVII; the recovery from last year's second-half collapse and early playoff exit; the second year in a row changing offensive and defensive coordinators; the Barkley signing; the Georgia-heavy drafts.

The odd controversies that dotted their season, whether it was Sirianni jawing with fans, A.J. Brown criticizing the "passing" and reading books on the sideline, Brandon Graham airing dirty laundry on a podcast ... all of the highs and lows of the past three seasons culminated Sunday in a career-defining win for Howie Roseman, Sirianni, Hurts and everyone else in midnight green.

They rolled in with what they believed was the better team and left no doubt.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NEW ORLEANS -- Howie Roseman huddled with a handful of senior aides and personnel men for one of a series of meetings from the NovaCare Sports Complex in South Philly.

It was January 2023, and the Eagles' executive vice president and his staff were in the midst of offseason planning. Philadelphia was days ahead of a Super Bowl run that would fall just short of the ultimate prize in a heartbreaking loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Roseman and his team were discussing the additions that might get them back to this stage.

New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley was scheduled to become a free agent that year, and his name was raised in a way sources in the room said was more than fleeting. The Eagles had seen plenty of Barkley since he entered the league, and the NFC East, in 2018. They'd mostly limited him -- Barkley hadn't logged a 100-yard game vs. Philly since his rookie season -- but they also knew what was on tape. Barkley was a nightmare to game-plan against.

"It's really hard to find difference-makers at any position," a team source said. "With a guy like [Barkley], positional considerations become less of a focus."

The Giants ended up putting the franchise tag on Barkley, and the Eagles moved forward. Turns out they were getting a 14-month jump on the eventual prize. The 2023 season would include a late-season plummet highlighted by tension between quarterback Jalen Hurts and coach Nick Sirianni, who barely escaped with his job. Philadelphia sought big-picture solutions for the offense.

Barkley's name was again raised as an option in January 2024 -- albeit a relatively pricey one that would serve as a departure from the franchise's usual methodology. Roseman hadn't paid running backs top dollar in recent years. The last Eagles back to receive a substantial deal was Demarco Murray, who was signed for five years and $40 million in a curious move instigated by then-head coach Chip Kelly in 2015. Murray lasted one season in Philadelphia.

But Barkley was the type of player who transcended philosophy, the kind some Eagles scouts privately dreamed of acquiring as they watched him from the press box twice per season. Philadelphia made the deal for Barkley on the first day of free agency and watched 11 months later as he helped lift the Eagles to their second title with a 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX. Though the Chiefs limited Barkley to 57 rushing yards on 25 carries, his 2,504 combined regular-season and playoff yards would become the most in NFL history.

"We knew that the focus would be on the run game and we took advantage of it," said Barkley, who added six catches for 40 yards. "We took advantage of it in the pass game. Jalen [Hurts] came out, played big and it took a team effort. Coaches, everyone in the Eagles organization, it takes all of us."

The excitement about the possibilities with Barkley began building in the 2024 offseason and never abated even as green confetti rained on the running back and his teammates at Caesars Superdome on Sunday night.

"When I heard that news," offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, the architect of the Eagles' elite blocking scheme, said of the acquisition, "I was like 'Holy cow. This is going to be unbelievable.'"

People inside the building were elated. Running backs coach Jemal Singleton remembers introducing himself to other coaches as "Saquon Barkley's running backs coach" the day the news broke in mid-March.

The most important, high-visibility part of the Eagles' run to Super Bowl LIX played a position that has seen its value plummet around the NFL, with a franchise tag figure that surpasses only that of kickers and punters. Barkley's acquisition raised a lot of questions for the team that let him walk, for the team that gave him more than $12 million per year in an out-of-character move and potentially for the league's view of the running back position moving forward.

Barkley answered the questions about his value with one of the finest seasons by a running back in NFL history, and now comes the debate about whether his mesmerizing 2024 performance has changed anything in the NFL -- and Barkley's own future.

"I'd like to say he's exceeded expectations, but he's always been one of the best players I've ever seen whenever I've watched him," Roseman said last week. "And I have always known about what kind of person he is because it's not hard to find that out. So I'm really not surprised by any of this, and I don't say that in an arrogant way, it's based on who he is, nothing to do with me, because this is who he's always been. And I'm just glad everyone gets to see that."

AS THE EAGLES prepared for Super Bowl LIX, hundreds of NFL types descended upon Mobile, Alabama, for the Senior Bowl. Scouts gathered at bars in downtown hotels after the day's evaluations were complete, and one veteran scout weighed the merits of the term "generational talent" between cocktails.

He concluded no player in this year's draft class fit the description, at running back or any other position.

"That's Myles Garrett, Saquon Barkley, guys like that," the scout said. "Very few should be mentioned in this space."

Still, when Barkley signed for three years and $37 million on the first day of 2024 free agency, the move carried some risk for the Eagles. Barkley had logged a heavy workload with 1,900 carries dating to his days at Penn State and had also sat out 25 NFL games over six seasons, with a right ACL tear and multiple ankle injuries compromising his availability. New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen highlighted the fears about Barkley's dependability when he made his stance clear during an episode of HBO's "Hard Knocks."

"We've got to upgrade the offensive line, and you're paying [quarterback Daniel Jones] $40 million," Schoen told the front office group assembled in his office. "It's not to hand the ball off to a $12 million back."

Schoen's words and that stance did not age well for the Giants, who won three games and benched Jones midway through the season, ultimately releasing him. Barkley would flourish elsewhere.

Multiple NFL executives said injury history was their only reservation about the Barkley signing in Philadelphia, with one calling it a "no-brainer" because of the "caliber of player."

"Based on their offense, you figured he'd have a good year -- not sure anybody knew he'd be [an] MVP [candidate]," an AFC executive said. "As long as he's healthy, I don't think anybody was doubting him. Anytime you have a talent like that, you can do a lot of things. He's a core piece."

Questions did persist about how Barkley would acclimate to an offense with a dual-threat quarterback and two high-end receivers in A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith. But as one national NFL scout pointed out, the key element was pairing Barkley with Hurts in the ground game.

"That dual-threat offense with the [run-pass option] behind that great offensive line has brought out the best in Saquon," the scout said. "When they signed him, the first thing I said is, 'He's going to have a monster year.' And he did."

His performances this season will forever live in Philly folklore, echoing through Birds-obsessed living rooms from Morristown to Drexel Hill. A sampling from a season in which Barkley would win the NFL rushing crown and league Offensive Player of the Year with a franchise record 2,005 yards in 16 games:

• 147 yards and two touchdowns on 17 rushes in a Week 3 win over a Saints team that had been one of the league's biggest surprises up to that point.

• 176 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries in his first career matchup against the Giants in Week 7

• A jaw-dropping 26-carry, 255-yard, two-touchdown performance against the Rams in Week 12, followed by a similarly jaw-dropping 26-carry, 205-yard, two-TD outing against those same Rams in an NFC divisional round playoff game seven weeks later.

Then, a Barkley-authored scene in the NFC Championship Game offered strong evidence it was over on the first carry.

Barkley had been the emphasis for the Washington Commanders entering the NFC title game. The Commanders were seeing Barkley for the third time this season and were saying all the right things. Defenders would prevent home runs by working in sync. They would avoid overconfident tackling angles, embrace the mundane and keep Barkley contained. They would fill gaps when he cut back into another lane. The script had been written meticulously, until Barkley ripped it up.

On the first play from scrimmage, Hurts pitched it as Barkley moved to his left, in what Barkley later revealed was a dummy call based on a formation shown in a previous matchup with Washington. Left tackle Jordan Mailata was on the move to swallow a defender. Tight end Dallas Goedert moved his man 15 yards downfield. Commanders pass rusher Dante Fowler Jr. was tripped up during his pursuit, slowing linebacker Bobby Wagner in the process. Stoutland noted that Eagles players want to block extra hard for Barkley because of how much he credits his teammates for good plays, which was the case here.

Barkley handled the rest, with a hesitation move, a spin and a cutback to dodge three defenders as if he were back in grade school recess. A 60-yard touchdown as a delirious Lincoln Financial Field crowd rejoiced and Commanders coach Dan Quinn's eyes widened.

"Rare change of direction, spins, jump cuts, vision behind the line, seeing a safety and working it back -- he has the quickness of a smaller back and the size of a big back," Quinn said of Barkley afterward.

The brilliance in the Eagles' plan for Barkley stretches beyond the player's immeasurable skill to the imposing nature of the players blocking for him. The Eagles have long presented one of the league's elite lines. Barkley was the right Eagle, at the right time, behind the right line to catalyze a Super Bowl run. The way the Eagles' line synchronized behind him seemed like a dance routine. Chiefs defensive line coach Joe Cullen joked that the Eagles' line can "block out the sun ... probably the biggest line we've gone against," which requires near-mistake-free tackling to beat them. Cullen & Co. did as fine a job against Barkley on Sunday as could be expected, and the Eagles still finished with 135 yards on the ground.

"Have you seen them? Huge, huge guys," Commanders defensive tackle Johnny Newton lamented. "Those guys work great together as a group. Really disciplined. They do their jobs at a high level. The way they stunt together, move together, communication pre-snap. Same page. It's like a routine, man."

Now the NFL awaits a look at Barkley's 2025 dance card.

BARKLEY IS VIEWED not as a one-hit wonder but a player the Eagles can build around ... at least in the short term. He turned 28 on Super Bowl Sunday and is due a $1.17 million base salary in 2025, along with a $9.843 million option bonus, which the Eagles will almost surely pay. He's due $14 million in 2026, the final year of his current deal. Philadelphia can decide well before then whether to extend his contract or let him play it out, setting the stage for free agency at age 30 -- largely considered the danger zone for backs.

One league executive predicts the Eagles, known for being proactive on player deals, could be open to extending Barkley by one or two years to give him more up-front money while protecting the back end with escape hatches. His magical 2024 season paved the road, but it's the next two seasons that will determine whether Barkley can remain healthy and productive enough to stay on a Hall of Fame path.

"I could see them tacking on a year or two with a marginal bump in pay over 2025 and 2026," the executive said. "But [the Eagles will] likely only do a deal if very low risk."

His legacy and contract aside, Barkley has strengthened the running back's status in the game at a time when many teams have devalued the position.

One veteran AFC assistant said the emphasis on big-money passers over the past decade caused defenses to increasingly drop into coverage, with more two-deep-safety looks. This reality in turn inspired offenses such as Philadelphia's to return to the run more heavily over the past two seasons. While few backs boast Barkley's ability, the trend he helped exemplify could change the calculus for teams who might seek to move running backs up draft boards and free agent wish lists.

"It's about time running backs start getting credibility," an AFC executive said. "You won't sign an average back to big money, but you will sign an average quarterback to big money. Maybe that's because teams were getting to Super Bowls without an elite back. But with the evolution of the game, teams are returning to doing things we did best. We all know how big a part a running back is to an offense."

Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton was quick to note last week that five different rushers produced 1,400 or more yards this season, a Barkley-led vengeance tour. Only one rusher (Christian McCaffrey) surpassed 1,400 last season. The ability to run the ball when you want changes the complexion of a game, Bolton said.

"[Backs] at the NFL level felt disrespected, and they took ownership of it this offseason," Bolton said. "You have elite guys working together and trying to find the best way to be valued again. They came back this year and are hungry. You can tell with how they are running the football."

The Vikings' Aaron Jones, Chargers' J.K. Dobbins and Steelers' Najee Harris are listed among the league's top 50 free agents and will offer a test of whether the paradigm is truly shifting. Running back and 2024 Heisman Trophy finalist Ashton Jeanty, a consensus top-10 choice in current ESPN mock drafts, will also find himself coveted one season after "2K Sa."

Beyond this season, the Bills' James Cook, Jets' Breece Hall or any number of star running backs set for free agency in 2026 will have Barkley to thank for the enhanced profile. Running backs won't return to the days of being the highest-paid players. But there's room for the position to grow, and it took a transcendent talent to enliven it.

"There are certain players in the history of this league that are difference-makers -- everything's different, production level, explosiveness," Stoutland said. "When you get your hands on a guy like that, you're very fortunate."

Dallas Mavericks star power forward/center Anthony Davis is expected to sit out multiple weeks because of a left adductor strain, sources told ESPN on Sunday night.

His absence could stretch to a month, sources said, because of an injury that cut short his spectacular debut with his new franchise. Davis, the headliner of the Mavs' return from the controversial trade of 25-year-old superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, exited Saturday's win over the Houston Rockets with 1:37 left in the third quarter after recording 26 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 blocks in 31 minutes.

He was ruled out of Monday's home game against the Sacramento Kings when the Mavs released the evening injury report.

Davis, 31, downplayed concern about the injury postgame, saying he was "very confident" that it was not a significant setback. Davis sat out the previous five games -- his final three with the Lakers and first two with the Mavs -- because of an abdominal strain.

"Just the leg got tight, like a little spasm," Davis said Saturday. "Just came back and tried to get it loose and everything. Obviously, dealing with the ab strain still, so just tried to get it loose. It wouldn't really loosen up and let go, but it's nothing serious. I'm fine."

Starting forward P.J. Washington, who sat out the second half of the win over the Rockets because of a sprained right ankle, was listed as questionable against the Kings. Key reserves Max Christie (right shoulder strain) and Dante Exum (left Achilles tightness) are also questionable.

Defenseman Quinn Hughes will not play for the United States in the 4 Nations Face-Off due to injury, the Vancouver Canucks announced Sunday. He'll be replaced by Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson.

Hughes has missed four straight games for the Canucks, having been out since Jan. 31 with what is speculated to be a lower-body injury. He is acting on the advice of team medical staff.

"He knows his body, and what he can do or not do, so I trust him a lot," Vancouver general manager Patrick Alvin told Sportsnet on Thursday. "We're supporting him."

Coach Rick Tocchet said it's "possible" that Hughes would have been available to the Canucks this week if there weren't a break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, but that it was "a tough question to answer."

It's a disappointing loss for the Americans in the four-team round-robin tournament that begins this week. Hughes, 25, won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman last season and has been his team's most valuable player this season with 59 points (14 goals, 45 assists) in 47 games.

He's part of a generation of young stars getting a chance to represent the U.S. in a "best on best" tournament for the first time -- a generation that includes Jack Hughes, the New Jersey Devils star and Quinn's younger brother.

Sanderson, 22, is in his third NHL season and has 35 points in 55 games for the Senators. The University of North Dakota alum was selected fifth overall in the 2020 NHL draft. He joins a U.S. defense corps that includes Adam Fox of the New York Rangers, Charlie McAvoy of the Boston Bruins and Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Team USA opens 4 Nations Face-Off play Thursday against Finland in Montreal (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).

MILWAUKEE -- Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid acknowledged Sunday that he might have to undergo another surgery on the left knee that has bothered him over the past year if it isn't feeling any better by the end of the season.

ESPN's Lisa Salters reported during the ABC telecast of the 76ers' 135-127 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks that he told her he believes repairing his knee "will likely take another surgery and a long recovery period, something he didn't have after the initial injury last February."

The 2022-23 MVP wasn't as definitive about it when talking to reporters after the game but indicated offseason surgery could at least be a possibility.

"I think the straightforward answer is that when you've got something that's inconsistent, at some point, you've got to do something about it," Embiid said. "We don't know what it is. We're looking into every option."

Embiid returned to action Tuesday after missing 15 games because of his knee problem. He has averaged 26.3 points, 10 rebounds and 7.3 assists in the three games he has played over the past week.

He played just 39 games last season because of a torn meniscus in his left knee. The 76ers announced in early February of that season that he had undergone surgery. Embiid came back in early April, was part of the 76ers' playoff run and then won a gold medal with the U.S. Olympic team last summer.

Embiid acknowledged after Sunday's game that he didn't have enough time after undergoing surgery last year.

"At some point I probably need to just, especially when the summer comes around, these few months to just recover fully," Embiid said. "Like I said, don't know what it is, but if that keeps being the same pattern, then obviously you've got to try something else."

Embiid, 30, has averaged 24.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 15 games this season.

"Every day, take it day by day," Embiid said. "If it gets worse, then you've got to do something about it. If it's not consistent enough, then that's not good enough."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Dallas Mavericks power forward/center Anthony Davis was ruled out of Monday's home game against the Sacramento Kings due to a left adductor strain, which cut short his spectacular debut with his new franchise.

Davis, the headliner of the Mavs' return from their trade of 25-year-old superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, exited Saturday's win over the Houston Rockets with 1:37 remaining in the third quarter after recording 26 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 blocks in 31 minutes.

Davis, 31, downplayed concern about the injury postgame, saying he was "very confident" that it was not a significant setback. Davis missed the previous five games -- his final three with the Lakers and first two with the Mavs -- due to an abdominal strain.

"Just the leg got tight, like a little spasm," Davis said Saturday. "Just came back and tried to get it loose and everything. Obviously, dealing with the ab strain still, so just tried to get it loose. It wouldn't really loosen up and let go, but it's nothing serious. I'm fine."

Dallas starting forward P.J. Washington, who sat out the second half of the win over the Rockets due to a sprained right ankle, is listed as questionable against the Kings. Key reserves Max Christie (right shoulder strain) and Dante Exum (left Achilles tightness) are also questionable.