When the New York Giants decided to let Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley test the free agency market—and ultimately watched him sign with their division rival, the Philadelphia Eagles—it immediately looked like a major mistake. Expectations were that New York would take a significant step back in 2024, and unfortunately, those expectations have become reality.
The Giants currently sit at 3-13, though they managed to snap a franchise-record 10-game losing streak on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts. Meanwhile, Barkley and the Eagles have thrived. Philadelphia holds a 13-3 record, has clinched the NFC East, and locked up the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs.
In his first season in the City of Brotherly Love, Barkley has delivered a historic performance, making Joe Schoen and the Giants’ front office look terrible for letting him go.
Bleacher Report rips the Giants for letting Saquon Barkley leave in free agency
We all knew last offseason that negotiations between the Giants and Barkley would be tense, especially after a standoff during the 2023 offseason that ended with Barkley agreeing to play on the non-exclusive franchise tag. But Schoen’s refusal to pay Barkley the hefty contract he undoubtedly deserved has come back to haunt the team, and Bleacher Report isn’t letting him off the hook.
Maurice Morton of Bleacher Report listed the eight most regrettable mistakes NFL teams made this season, and the Giants’ failure to re-sign Barkley was right near the top.
“As a general manager, you don’t want to see one of your former star players flourish with a division rival, but the New York Giants front office is experiencing a different type of pain after failing to re-sign Saquon Barkley,” Morton wrote.
“While the Giants may not have been much better with Barkley because of their quarterback situation, co-owner John Mara expressed visible distress when he learned about the Eagles’ interest in Barkley, which HBO’s Hard Knocks cameras filmed during an episode. Mara’s free-agency nightmare came to fruition when the Penn State product signed with Philadelphia. He’s leading the league in rushing and is in the conversation for league MVP.”
Even though the Giants only made the playoffs once during Barkley’s six-year tenure, his departure stings—especially with the Eagles. Barkley currently leads the league in rushing by a wide margin with 2,005 yards and is just 101 yards away from breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record.
Schoen’s bold statement on Hard Knocks this past summer—“We’ve gotta upgrade the offensive line, and you’re paying Daniel Jones $40 million. It’s not to hand the ball off to a $12 million back”—is looking more and more foolish with every Barkley highlight reel.
While you could argue that Barkley might not be having this level of success with the Giants due to their poor offensive line, it’s still hard to forgive Schoen and the front office for not making a serious effort to bring him back. Barkley is having the best season of any running back in the league—and he’s doing it for the Eagles, of all teams.