Jason Kelce wishes he could have blocked for Saquon Barkley with Eagles

Jason Kelce has at least one NFL regret.

He wishes he could have blocked for Saquon Barkley.

“I tell [Eagles general manager] Howie [Roseman] all the time, ‘Why did you wait until I’m retired to add a piece like this?’ The last time I played with a running back probably this talented was LeSean McCoy, I’d say,” Kelce told Sports Illustrated. “Darren Sproles I got at the tail end of his career and he was really good, too. I’ve played with some good backs. I’m very thankful for the teammates I’ve had but having a guy like Saquon would have been really nice.”

Barkley signed a three-year, $37.75 million deal with the Eagles this past offseason to end his tumultuous six-year Giants tenure.

He shined in his Eagles debut, recording 132 total yards and three total touchdowns as the Eagles beat the Packers, 34-29, Week 1.

And Kelce retired following last season after 13 years in the NFL, all with the Eagles.

“There are a lot of runs that traditionally you would see and there would be not much there, maybe it’s a no gain, maybe it’s a tackle for loss or all of a sudden one of them [in Week 1] it looked like he was close to getting tackled behind the line of scrimmage and he breaks it for a touchdown,” Kelce told the outlet. “Another one, the run got thinned out and he just kinda found his way through and took it for maybe over 15? He’s just a very good player.”

Without Barkley, the Giants had a disastrous Week 1, falling to the Vikings 28-6.

Quarterback Daniel Jones had a nightmarish return from a torn ACL, completing just 22 of 42 passes for 186 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions — one of which was returned for a pick-six.

Barkley said this week that he reached out to his former teammate.

“I talked to him,” Barkley said. “I’m really good friends with DJ, obviously he didn’t have the game that he wants … I just let him know, just go out there and play free and do what you do best.”