National Football League

Saquon Barkley: Giants 'disrespectful' during contract negotiations

Published Jul. 23, 2024 12:52 p.m. ET

Saquon Barkley wasn't happy with the way the New York Giants handled his contract negotiations this offseason before he left for the Philadelphia Eagles in free agency.

The star running back said in an interview on The Athletic's "Scoop City" podcast that it felt "a little disrespectful" that the Giants asked him to bring back an offer to match after hitting the open market rather than making an offer themselves.

"It's kind of like a slap in the face [to say], ‘You go see what you are worth, and then if you're worth that, we'll see if you're worth it, and maybe we'll match it,'" Barkley said.

New York's decision to let Barkley hit the open market was documented in a recent episode of "Hard Knocks: Offseason With the New York Giants." The episode showed general manager Joe Schoen telling Barkley that the Giants were letting him hit free agency after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on a long-term deal for the second straight offseason.

On the phone call with Schoen, Barkley said that he had "already" told him that he wanted to remain with the Giants. Barkley told The Athletic that he didn't want to come off as "begging" during that call and that he came to a realization by the end of it.

"It was over after that phone call, in my opinion," Barkley said of his time in New York. "It was over after that because I never in my heart truly believed they were going to match it, or they only wanted me for a lower price."

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Ahead of free agency, Barkley admitted that he was "concerned" about the state of the running back market over the past year. However, he said that "a lot of teams" sent him "true offers" when free agency opened, which he thinks might have surprised the Giants based on the contract talks he had with his former team.

"I felt like the Giants thought that I was going to go out there and get $9 [million per year], maybe $8 [million per year] or a stretch at $10 [million per year] and then I'll come back to them, ‘Alright, we got you if you want to come play at $9 [million per year], you come play at $9 [million per year],'" Barkley said. "I truly think that would've gotten it done. I think that's where they valued me at, or where Joe valued me at. He had a price point where he was willing to pay and he wasn't going to go over it, so kudos to him for sticking to his gut."

Barkley's decision to sign with the Eagles was also detailed in a recent episode of "Hard Knocks." Moments before free agency began, Barkley's agent told Schoen that the Giants would need to offer his client a three-year deal worth $12.5 million per year and $25 million guaranteed. Barkley wound up signing a three-year, $37.75 million deal with the Eagles that could be worth up to $46.75 million and included $26 million guaranteed.

Barkley said that the Giants ultimately "really weren't in play" for his services. He also shared that he had an issue with a comment that Schoen made about his contract negotiations with the team after he received the franchise tag in 2023.

"Joe, he made a comment saying that it took 10 years off his life," Barkley said. "Like, if it took 10 years off your life, what do you think it did for me?"

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Barkley's decision to sign with a division rival was largely scrutinized by fans and media in New York. He said that the criticism caused him to shelve a goodbye video he was planning to post on social media.

"That was just really immature of me," Barkley said of that decision. "That's the one thing of that whole process that I kind of regret."

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