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Saquon Barkley Reacts to Giants Cutting Longtime Teammate Daniel Jones

The two players spent five seasons together with New York.

Tom Dierberger

Barkley and Jones chat after the Eagles' 28–3 win over the Giants in Week 7.
Barkley and Jones chat after the Eagles' 28–3 win over the Giants in Week 7. / Al Bello/Getty Images
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The New York Giants officially announced Friday that they are moving on from former first-round pick Daniel Jones, once considered the franchise quarterback at MetLife Stadium.

A few hours after the Giants officially released Jones, former New York star Saquon Barkley—now an MVP candidate with the NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles—weighed in one the news surrounding his former teammate.

"I've been in contact with him. Our friendship has stayed close throughout the whole process of me being [in Philadelphia]," Barkley told reporters Friday at the Eagles' practice facility. "It sucks to see how everything went down for him over there. I've got nothing but great things to say about him; you're not going to find anybody that can say negative things about him.

"It's the NFL. Hopefully, wherever he ends up next, they're going to get a guy to come in and work. It didn't work for me [with the Giants], and I'm doing well over here [in Philadelphia]. Hopefully he can find the same fresh start and success."

Barkley and Jones spent five seasons together from 2019 to '23 after the quarterback was selected with the No. 6 pick in the 2019 NFL draft. The Giants put together just one winning season in that span with a 9–7–1 record in 2022, which culminated in a wild-card upset win over the Minnesota Vikings and ended with a blowout loss to the Eagles in the divisional round.

Jones now will hit waivers and is unlikely to be claimed because of his massive four-year, $160 million contract he signed in 2023. Once he passes through waivers as expected, the 27-year-old is free to sign with any team.

Barkley, meanwhile, will continue preparing for the Eagles' Week 12 showdown with the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday Night Football.

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Tom Dierberger
TOM DIERBERGER

Tom Dierberger is a staff writer and editor on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in November 2023 after stints at FOX Sports, Bally Sports and NBC Sports. Dierberger has a bachelor's in communication from St. John's University. In his spare time, he can be seen throwing out his arm while playing fetch with his dog, Walter B. Boy.

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