NFC East Rival Criticizes Giants for Letting Saquon Barkley Leave

The critics continue to criticize the Giants for their inability to retain Saquon Barkley.

Jan 26, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) walks in the tunnel before the NFC Championship game at Lincoln Financial Field. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Add Washington Commanders running back Austin Ekeler to the growing list of people who have criticized the New York Giants for their inability to retain running back Saquon Barkley, the newly crowned AP Offensive Player of the Year.

Barkley, who during the 2024 offseason signed a three-year $38 million contract with the Eagles, will be looking to help the Eagles win their second Super Bowl championship against the Kansas City Chiefs. Meanwhile, the Giants have been sitting at home since last month, trying to figure out what went wrong in a 3-14 season that was their worst record in their 100-year history.

Ekeler, whose team lost to the Eagles in the NFC Championship game, made his comments during an appearance on the "God Bless Football" podcast.

"Like the Giants– what a joke over there letting this guy go. Prime Saquon. 'I don't know who's going to pay this guy $12 million,” Ekeler said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.  

By now, the point about the Giants' inability to reach a new deal to make Barkley a Giant for life has become stale, though certainly if the Eagles win the Super Bowl and Barkley wins the MVP award, that is all but certain to result in another fresh round of mockery and insults hurled at the Giants. 

Feb 3, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley speaks during Super Bowl LIX Opening Night at Ceasars Superdome. | James Lang-Imagn Images

The Eagles helped unlock the best version of Saquon Barkley

Saquon Barkley, a No. 2 overall draft pick in 2018 who spent the first six seasons of his NFL career with the Giants, accumulated almost 2,300 yards from scrimmage and 15 total touchdowns for the Eagles, and he hasn’t slowed down in the postseason either.

But in the Giants defense, the likelihood of Barkley having had the kind of year with New York that he had in Philadelphia was probably less than one percent, if that much. 

The Eagles have one of the best offensive lines in football, whereas the Giants' protection unit finished in the bottom third of the NFL, largely due to injuries but also due to performance. 

In his final season with the Giants, Barkley logged just 3.9 yards per carry behind a historically awful offensive line.

Although general manager Joe Schoen made some improvements to the unit in the ensuing offseason, injuries exposed a significant lack of depth along the unit that it was unable to overcome.  

That’s probably little consolation to Giants fans, who might have once viewed Barkley in the same way as they did receiver Odell Beckham, Jr. back in the day before then-general manager Dave Gettleman traded him away.

That said, there’s no stuffing the toothpaste back into the tube, and the Giants, who made their decision, are more focused on looking ahead than in the past, which is how it should be.

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