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Saquon Barkley is one of the players in the NFL where fans simply haven’t been able to see him in enough big moments due to the New York Giants being a poor football team so far in his six-year career.
But, the ultra-talented running back is likely going to hit the open market for the first time, and fans could be soon blessed with seeing one of leagues biggest freaks of nature play for another team.
That’s because the Penn State alum is finally open for playing to a different team after previously saying he wanted to be a New York Giants for life.
Here’s more from Pro Football Talk.
Barkley says that early in his career he saw himself as a Giant for life, but when he got the franchise tag last offseason, he began to realize that it’s a business for both sides, and leaving may be the best business for him.
“Yeah, I mean it never crossed my mind until last year after I got tagged. Up until that moment, I really believe that I was gonna finish my career as a New York Giant. You know, that was a goal of mine. And that’s still in play. I have so much respect for the Mara family and the Tisch family and everyone in the Giants organization,” Barkley told Complex.com. “They know that but once you get to this point, you go to your contract negotiation and you go through the tag process, you realize how much of a business it is. And I remember vets always telling me this and you know I believed them, but you don’t really know something until you go through it. So could I see myself in another uniform? Yeah, it’s possible.”
This would be a welcome sight for NFL fans, as when he’s healthy, Barkley is unbelievable. After his first two years in the league were dominant, injuries slowed him down for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. But, he was phenomenal in 2022 and followed it up with a solid campaign in 2023 in a putrid Giants offense. Saquon Barkley had over 1200 yards from scrimmage and added 12 touchdowns as by far the most consistent performer for the G-Men offense.
So, who could be contenders to sign Saquon Barkley? To me, the biggest threat would be the Houston Texans. They have cap room to spend, and he would look great next to CJ Stroud as they enter win-now mode with Stroud having four years left on his rookie deal. The New England Patriots could make sense from a financial perspective, but I’m not sure Barkley would want to sign there, given that they aren’t built to compete in the next year or two.
The big wild card is the Philadelphia Eagles. Barkley’s home-state team needs to make a splash this offseason. It seems like they were not enamored by Deandre Swift this year, considering his usage seemed to not be as much as it should have been given his talent. Saquon would fit in nicely with Jalen Hurts and the rest of the Eagles as they look to rebound from a terrible finish to the season.