Why Giants, Saquon Barkley Are Better Off Apart from One Another

The New York Giants lost their best offensive skill player in free agency, but the loss might not be as catastrophic as some think, argues one analyst.

Author:
Ezekiel Trezevant IV
Publish date:
Mar 17, 2024 2:00 PM EDT

In this story:

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

When running back, Saquon Barkley decided to leave the New York Giants and join the Philadelphia Eagles, New York's biggest division foe, and many viewed the decision as a gut punch and a betrayal.

In reality, it's neither. Barkley reportedly didn't even get an offer from the Giants before the start of free agency, and the Giants might be better off apart than they would have been together.

Jeff Kerr of CBS Sports believes the Giants' decision not to allocate the money it would have probably taken for the two sides to continue their relationship was a wise one, given what transpired during their first six seasons together.

The Giants built a team around Barkley over the last six years but have just a playoff win and a 34-64-1 record to show for it. They were wise to move on from Barkey, not make an offer, and allocate their money elsewhere.

New York spent that Barkley money on improving the offensive line, adding Jon Runyan and Jermaine Eluemunor. Their big move was trading for Brian Burns and paying him, creating a pass rush with him, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Dexter Lawrence.

From Barkley's perspective, he now gets to play behind a more established offensive line, something he didn't have in New York during his career, and in a better offense.

Philadelphia still has Barkley in his prime for at least two years, having him in an offense with A.J. brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert as the top targets for Jalen Hurts. The Eagles are in a Super Bowl contending window and want to take advantage of that. Putting Barkley behind that offensive line will do wonders for his career, and the Eagles offense.

The running back also goes to a system that could tap into more of his skills as a receiver, something the Giants didn't do much of beyond his rookie season when he had a career-high 91 receptions on 121 pass targets.