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Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
It was one of the New York Giants biggest fears heading into an offseason where their former All-Pro running back Saquon Barkley hit the open market as a free agent for the first time in his career.
The news couldn’t have been worse for Giants fans as he not only left the team but joined their NFC rivals the Philadelphia Eagles on a three-year,$37.75 million deal that will make it one of the richest contracts for a running back behind MVP Finalist Christian McCaffrey, former All-Pro Alvin Kamara, and a young budding star in Jonathan Taylor.
$26 million is guaranteed at signing and with incentives has a chance to make up to $46.75 million per ESPN.
The Giants opted not to franchise tag Barkley for a second consecutive year which would have cost them $12.1 million, leading to a disagreement between the two parties before the start of last season and ultimately agreeing to a one-year deal after a brief holdout.
Barkley, 27, has had an up-and-down career through his first six years in the NFL which injuries have marred after rushing for two consecutive 1,000-yard seasons in 2018 and 2019 while being selected to the Pro Bowl his rookie season and in 2022 when he rushed for a career-high 1,312 yards.
The Giants had a feeling their disgruntled longtime star running back was going to leave after they decided to pay Daniel Jones last year to a four-year, $160 million deal and are now looking to move to find his replacement.
After a disappointing season for the Giants, it’s got to hurt even more when you lose your franchise running back for nothing in return in the open market and have a quarterback coming off an ACL injury who’s not a franchise-type talent.
Ouch!
Barkley now joins an Eagles team that looked like the best team in the NFL for the first half of the season until they started to unravel down the stretch before the playoffs.
Playing with an upgrade at quarterback in Jalen Hurts and an elite devastating receiver tandem in AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith will open things up for Barkley’s running game in a way he hasn’t seen before.
It’ll also take pressure off him knowing the Eagles have elite wideou t options to utilize the pass which can help preserve him and perhaps limit the risk of injury, something he didn’t have during his Giants tenure.
Barkley has played 10 games against the Eagles (including a 2022 playoff game) where he rushed 147 times for 676 yards and six TDs, adding 36 receptions for 271 and one TD. His only two 100-yard rushing games against the Eagles both came in his Offensive Rookie of the Year season in 2018.
Losing Barkley to the Eagles will sting a lot of Giants fans… Just ask former Giants running back Tiki Barber what he feels about Barkley’s signing.
The Giants will still have to see Barkley, now as a rival, two times a year. Let's hope he can help get the Eagles over the hump and back to the Super Bowl.