When the Philadelphia Eagles swooped in and signed running back Saquon Barkley, it sent shockwaves across the NFL.
Blood boiled in New York as the Giants star defected to their fiercest rival, setting off an emotionally charged exchange between Barkley and one of Big Blue’s greatest all-time players, Tiki Barber.
Other former Giants also chimed in, as did fans — many burning their Barkley jerseys.
Because of the heated nature of Barkley’s move within the division, Adam Rank of NFL Network believes Giants-Eagles will be among the NFL’s best revenge games of 2024.
Let’s start off with a banger — just like they do at WrestleMania, which is taking place in Philadelphia this year. Now, it was former Giants running back Tiki Barber who (jokingly?) said Saquon Barkley was dead to him after the star RB signed a big-money deal with the rival Eagles. I get it. There is no love lost between Giants and Eagles fans. It’s one of the most bitter rivalries in the NFL. But I actually think this was kind of a great move, and one that Giants fans shouldn’t be too upset about. Saquon played some fine football during his six seasons in New York, earning a healthy payday with a team that is still in its Super Bowl window (we hope, anyway).
The Giants are in a spot where devoting big money to a running back isn’t the move. The Eagles, on the other hand, probably shouldn’t let their quarterback run for 15 touchdowns, so for them, this signing made a lot of sense. I understand that it’s disturbing for some to think of Saquon in an Eagles uniform, and that Giants fans will be upset when he has a Christian McCaffrey-like impact with their division rival. But dude is from Allentown, Pennsylvania, (fine, Whitehall Township) and should be allowed to go home. Plus, folks should blame the team that didn’t want to pay Saquon before getting mad at the player himself.
The Giants organization, from co-owner John Mara to head coach Brian Daboll, have said all the right things. They’ve praised Barkley on his way out the door and wished him success in all but two regular season games.
And for his part, Barkley has maintained decorum.
Still, there’s little doubt that Barkley wants to make an example out of the Giants, and playing them twice per season undoubtedly factored into his decision. He wants to feast on his former team and they’ll be desperate to stop him.
It may be relatively calm leading up to those games given Barkley’s classy nature but make no mistake about it, Rank is right — Giants vs. Eagles is going to be more electrifying than ever in 2024.
