While HBO's "Hard Knocks" cameras have captured the Giants’ point of view in the Saquon Barkley contract negotiations saga, the now-Philadelphia Eagles running back is telling his side of the story.
Sitting down for an in-depth interview on The Athletic’s “Scoop City” podcast, Barkley said he felt disrespected and that it was “a slap in the face” for Giants GM Joe Schoen to tell him to go out and test the open market without first giving him their own offer.
“I felt like the Giants thought I would go out there and get ($9 million a year), maybe eight, stretch at 10, and then come back to them and it’s like ‘Alright, we got you. If you want to come play at ($9 million), you come play at ($9 million), which I think that truly would have got it done,” Barkley said. “I think that’s just where they valued me at, where Joe valued me at. He had a price point that he was willing to pay, and he wasn’t going to go over it, and kudos to him for sticking to his gut.
“I kind of felt like it was a little disrespectful, to be honest, because it’s kind of like a slap in the face. ‘You go see what you are worth, and if you are worth that, we’ll see if you’re worth it and maybe we’ll match it.’”
Barkley, who was drafted second overall by the Giants in 2018, explained that he spoke with the team just twice in the offseason: once after the season ended, and then the phone call with Schoen that aired on "Hard Knocks," when the Giants GM informed Barkley that they wanted him to test the market and come back.
"I feel like I was a real focal point in Hard Knocks, especially Episode 3, even with like the clips (that were posted on social media),” Barkley said. “In real life, to me, there wasn’t a lot of conversation with the Giants this offseason. We talked once after the season and then the phone call that everyone’s seen with me and Joe. Those were really the only two conversations that I had with them, and then afterwards we had a conversation when I signed with Philly. It seems like I was super involved with this, but in reality… it was really like the three teams that I had to focus on, and I ended up picking the Eagles."
As for that phone call with Schoen, Barkley said that was when he “kind of knew it wasn’t going to happen” with the Giants.
“It was over after that phone call, in my opinion,” Barkley said. “It was over after that, because I never in my heart truly believed that they were going to match it, and that they only wanted me for a lower price. So, no matter what, I probably wasn’t going to go back. Like I know my agent went back and talked to them and we gave them the opportunity to match, but the whole time I already removed myself from that.”
“At the time, I was fed up a little bit, to be honest,” Barkley said about the call with Schoen, “because we talked after the season and they were like ‘Do you want to be a Giant?” and I was like ‘I already said where I want to be,’ like I said on the phone (with Schoen). They said ‘Alright, we’re going to figure it out. We’re going to make it work. We’ll talk to your agent.’ Then at the Combine they talked to my agent and they said ‘We’ll have (an offer), we’ll have something ready for you,’ and come to find out that they don’t want to send me an offer because they don’t want to be disrespectful or whatever, what Joe said in that episode.”
Ultimately, Barkley ended up netting a three-year, $37.75 million contract with Philadelphia, with $26 million fully guaranteed.
The former Giant, who reportedly was choosing between Philadelphia, Chicago, and Houston, called signing with the Eagles a “no-brainer,” saying that he believes he can help the Eagles take the next step to become Super Bowl champions.