The New York Giants losing star running back Saquon Barkley in free agency was one of the biggest developments of their 2024 offseason. The two-time Pro Bowler joined the Philadelphia Eagles after a prolonged spat about his contract. The Birds gave him a good team and long-term money that his incumbent team wouldn’t and couldn’t, sending Big Blue back to the drawing board.
With the Giants' offseason being the subject of HBO's Hard Knocks, a discussion over Barkley's future with the Giants between team owner John Mara and general manager Joe Schoen was made public. In the first episode, there’s a scene where Schoen explains to Mara that franchise-tagging Barkley again doesn’t make sense and that offering him a contract that’s affordable for New York would be so low that it would come off as disrespectful. Mara makes it clear that he isn’t ready to lose the former second-overall pick.
#Giants GM Joe Schoen and owner John Mara discussing what to do with Saquon Barkley: Mara: “In a perfect world, I’d still like to have him back.”
“I mean, in a perfect world, I’d still like to have him back,” Mara said, “until we can prove that we have a decent offense without him.”
The Giants did offer Barkley a multi-year contract that was just shy of the league-high money Barkley was looking for before using the franchise tag on him this past season. Since then, they couldn’t come to an agreement with him on a new framework, resulting in a split after six seasons.
Giants owner John Mara preferred to have Saqon Barkley back
The biggest factor in all of this might be the hefty contract of Daniel Jones. Schoen explained to Mara that since Jones is making so much, the team has to see if he can be the guy, which means putting a good infrastructure around him (that will also be used to lure in his potential replacement). Shelling out a big deal to Barkley would have made it harder to spend elsewhere.
Jones' four-year, $160-million deal was seen as an embarrassing overpay at the time and Jones hasn’t done anything to prove that he was worth it. Injuries derailed most of his first season after signing the deal but when he did play, the results were really uninspiring: three total touchdowns and six interceptions in six games. Concerns about his ability to stay healthy only make the contract look worse, as does the impact it had on being able to pay Barkley.
The Giants lost Darren Waller to retirement this offseason but did add a huge upgrade at wide receiver in Malik Nabers, the sixth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. They also added a solid running back in Devin Singletary to replace Barkley and beefed up their offensive line with Jon Runyan Jr., Jermaine Eluemunor and Aaron Stinnie. It’s not good enough to be an elite offense but it should be enough for Jones, health permitting, to show whether he can be a legitimate franchise quarterback.
Barkley, after spending most of his career on losing teams, joins an Eagles squad with legitimate Super Bowl expectations. He'll still see the Giants twice a season, reminding both sides of the partnership that fizzled out.
