Saquon Barkley felt like he would be a member of the New York Giants for his entire career.
After getting drafted in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft, Barkley cemented himself as one of the most dangerous weapons in the NFL — and despite the ups and downs of the organization’s success — he never complained and felt like one of the team’s core leaders.
Barkley, 27, played last season on an adjusted franchise tag that netted him $10.1 million after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on a long-term deal. The Giants eventually elected against using the tag again this year at $12.1 million, which allowed him to hit free agency.
Yet still, many believed the New York Giants would find a way to reach a long-term deal with Saquon Barkley.
He had repeatedly expressed his desire to be a “Giant for life,” but Barkley turned down an offer last season that would have guaranteed him approximately $23 million, a source told ESPN.
The two-time Pro Bowl running back rushed for just 962 yards and six touchdowns for the Giants last season, missing three games with a high-ankle sprain suffered in a Week 2 win over the Arizona Cardinals
Saquon Barkley decided to test the free agent market and had interest from plenty of teams according to multiple reports.
But earlier this month, Barkley reached an agreement with the Giants divisional rival. He inked a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles that could be worth up to $46.75 million and includes $26 million fully guaranteed at signing, according to ESPN Insider Adam Schefter.
Barkley now beats the franchise tag number and has a maximum average-per-year salary of $15.833M, which would be the second-highest for an RB in NFL History.
It’s reasonable for New York Giants fans to be angry with Barkley’s decision to join one of their biggest rivals, but the NFL is ultimately a business and these things happen.
But in this case, a former Giants iconic RB attacked Barkley which felt odd to say the least.
Saquon Barkley Unleashes On Tiki Barber Following Philadelphia Eagles Trade
At the start of free agency, when former New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley first signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, former Giant-turned-radio host Tiki Barber declared that Barkley was “dead to the city of New York.”
Since then, there’s been a little bit of back and forth between the two ex-Giants. But on Wednesday, Barkley decided to re-litigate his feelings on what Barber said.
Appearing on the New Heights podcast, Barkley admonished Barber for “feeding into the B.S.” that fans get into as far as player loyalty goes. He said that he respects former NFL players and hopes they would be more supportive of current ones.
That is why he was so confused with Tiki Barber’s stance.
“That was my thing with Tiki. You’re an ex-running back. Like, you’re an ex-NFL player. I get fans being upset about me going to Philly. First of all, the Giants didn’t even offer me (a contract). But Tiki, like, you used that moment… it wasn’t even what he said. It was the week leading up to that when it first came out that the Eagles and I had interest and he’s like ‘you’re gonna be dead to this fanbase…’ Don’t feed into the B.S. It’s like, let fans do that,” Barkley said.
As for the move to Philly itself, Saquon Barkley said that while it upset him to see Giants fans so angry, he feels that the outrage shows that he was making a difference for the team.
“If fans weren’t mad that I went from New York to Philly that means I did nothing when I was in New York. That means I made an impact at some point. That’s the reason why fans were so torn apart about it…”
It’s clear there is some bad blood between Saquon Barkley and Tiki Barber and it’s not likely to go away anytime soon.