Brian Daboll Breaks Silence on Saquon Barkley Departure

Brian Daboll had a message for former New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley

Giants head coach Brian Daboll and former running back Saquon Barkley. / Sarah Stier/GettyImages

If it were up to New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll, he'd keep as many of his players until they could no longer play the game.

Such though is not the case thanks to free agency in which very few players remain with the tea they start with thanks to multiple factors including finances.

Still, that doesn't make it easier for head coaches like Daboll, who spend much time building relationships with players. So when the Giants decided they couldn't afford running back Saquon Barkley, who got the kind of deal he wanted from New York's most hated rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, the transaction stung Daboll if just a bit.

"This is what it is every year in the NFL," Daboll told NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero ahead of the league meetings in Orlando, Florida this week. "You meet great people, whether it's coaches, players, staff members, and unfortunately, everybody doesn't stick together the entire time; it's not what it was 30, 40 years ago."

Daboll, though, has never been one to spend time dwelling on what might have been. He's the type of coach who is locked in and focused on coaching those players he has under the team's East Rutherford headquarters. And he understands that it's not fair to expect other players who come in to fill the roster holes on the depth chart to necessarily replicate the talents of players lost.

Daboll, who had a special relationship with Barkley, told Pelissero that nothing had changed regarding his feelings toward the player.

"I've got a tremendous amount of respect for Saquon and all the players that went to other places," he said. "It's a special group when you're going through an NFL season, you've got to go through ups and downs."

Daboll closed his thoughts with a predictable message for his former player.

"Wish him all the best--except when he is playing the Giants," Daboll said.

---

• Follow and like us on Facebook.
• Submit your questions for our mailbag.
• Follow Patricia Traina on Instagram.
• Check out the Giants Country YouTube Channel.
• Subscribe and like the LockedOn Giants YouTube Channel