Eagles' Star RB Reignites A Dormant Rivalry

Win, lose or draw, the Eagles-Giants rivalry is a thing again because of Saquon Barkley's defection from the Giants.

May 30, 2024; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) runs with the ball during practice at NovaCare Complex. / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

PHILADELPHIA - The rivalry between the Eagles and the New York Giants figures to heat up substantially in the 2024 season, not necessarily because the Giants have turned some kind of corner but because their former franchise cornerstone now plays for Philadelphia.

Frankly, the Giants weren’t very good with Saquon Barkley, making the playoffs just once in his six seasons with the club. New York’s record over that span was a dismal 34-64-1 and just 25-48-1 with Barkley on the field with five 10-loss seasons and one outlier, a 9-7-1 2022 campaign in which the Eagles obliterated Big Blue in the divisional round by a 38-7 margin.

For most of Barkley's tenure in North Jersey, the Giants were the kindling to the Eagles' fire yet
Barkley, 27, somehow emerged from all of that with reputation intact, a testament to his pedigree as the No. 2 overall pick in 2018, his perceived talent level, and his professionalism.

"I didn't think in six years, I’d only be in the playoffs one time, or I would have torn my ACL in my third year," Barkley said before what turned out to be his last game as a member of the Giants which ironically was a rare win over the Eagles in Week 18 last season. "I went through a lot of adversity, and I feel like I never folded. I feel like every time I got knocked down, I got back up and kept fighting." 

The fighting with now be done in Philly when the Eagles strayed from their usual strategy at the RB position to sign the Penn State product to a three-year, $37.75 million contract with the word “special” thrown around liberally to explain the 180.

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni even playfully jabbed at Giants fans this spring.

"Sometimes you see Giants fans around here -- being so close. And they give me a good, 'Hey, go Giants," Sirianni smiled. "I typically let it go, but if the [fan] gets me good enough I usually say, 'You know, we got your best player.'"

Technically the Eagles didn’t get Dexter Lawrence but trash-talking is not typically subject to fact-checking.

From a common-sense perspective Barkley is a far better fit in Philadelphia as a luxury for a legitimate contender vs. being what he was with New York: the foundational offensive piece on a bad football team.

The interest level in Barkley’s short trip down the New Jersey Turnpike is real. He claims that the Giants made no offer to bring him back while the trailer for the upcoming season of “Hard Knocks,” which will feature the Giants, disputes that, albeit without the needed context. 

Let me educate some of you fans here… I can’t bail or become a traitor if I never got an offer to come back.. so I went to the organization I felt that was the best and after already being here for a month man I’m excited to be a eagle ! Go birds 🦅

— Saquon Barkley (@saquon) May 3, 2024

In the "Hard Knocks" trailer, Giants General Manager Joe Schoen is shown on the phone, presumably with Barkley, expressing an interest in getting the RB to return.

“Saquon, can you give me your word on that, or are you not going to give us a chance?” Schoen is shown saying.

Whether that was lip service from the Giants GM or real interest could be unveiled on the show which will be the first time the cameras are shadowing an NFL team through the offseason process, including free agency and the draft.

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