New York Giant fans are still sore over the free agent defection of star running back Saquon Barkley. Not just because he left but where he ended up, with the hated Philadelphia Eagles.
In a recent interview, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni revealed that he has a standard answer for Giant fans who hassle him about stealing Barkley.
“I typically let it go, but if the guy gets me good enough, I usually say, ‘You know, I got your best player,’” Sirianni said, via Pro Football Talk.
And Sirianni would know. Since the Giants selected Barkley second overall in 2018, he’s faced Philadelphia nine times, scoring seven touchdowns.
“It’s really nice to see him in green,” Sirianni said. “And I know, you know, it’s really nice to see him in there. Like we missed the tackle on him the other day on the sideline. Now we’re not tackling, but you can tell without pads on, you can tell if that guy made the tackle or not. And I had visions back of like him on the sideline, and us watching all these plays on the sideline, of Saquon making somebody miss, and Saquon making somebody miss and doing it again.
“It was like — it brought me back to that and it’s like, ‘Man, I’m glad that I wasn’t happy that our defensive player missed the tackle on this particular one, but I’m really happy that Saquon, that No. 26 is on our side, making the guy miss.’”
The Eagles inked Barkley, the 2018 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and two-time Pro Bowler, to a three-year, $37.75 million contract this past March with $26 million of that money guaranteed.
The Giants and Barkley had been negotiating a new deal for nearly two years but didn’t come close to anything long-term. Big Blue did not make Barkley an offer in free agency nor did they counter the Eagles’ offer.
