Hindered by injuries and a putrid offensive line, Saquon Barkley averaged 869 rushing yards a season, and 4.3 yards per carry throughout his six seasons in New York. Fast forward to today, Barkley, who just amassed 2,005 rushing yards throughout the 2024 regular season, is now responsible for the eighth most rushing yards in a regular season in NFL history. Clearly, the Giants made a huge mistake in letting Barkley go.
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On the latest episode of The Rich Eisen Show, former president of the Philadelphia Eagles and cofounder of The 33rd Team, Joe Banner, gave his insights on their divisional rival making one of the biggest blunders in NFL history. Banner labeled the New York Giants’ decision to cut ties with Saquon Barkley as “Hard to understand and a huge mistake.”
“Here’s the simple part of this, first you draft him… you knew in five years this was going to be really expensive, the only thing that changed is he’s had a lot of injuries. He looked like the star player you drafted when he was healthy and playing, even behind a very deficient offensive line for all of those years.”
Banner was quick to point out the inconsistencies in New York’s handling of the situation. However, he did highlight that the value of Barkley was substantially higher in Philadelphia than with his former team.
“The Eagles have never paid a running back a ton of money and never drafted one really high, but have always cherished running backs.”
Now averaging 5.81 yards per carry, the Eagles’ 2024 regular season campaign is the ultimate proof that the Giants were nothing more than a hindrance to the star RB’s career. Perhaps New York’s bigger mistake was not letting Barkley go, but never utilizing his full potential.
Ultimately, Banner had questions not only for the Giants but for the rest of the NFL as well, on why teams failed to see Barkley’s potential.
“Here’s the simple point, $12 million buys you a solid tight end, a solid safety, a decent guard… A Pro Bowl guard is $21 million a year right now… You add a guy that, if healthy, is capable of being a top three running back in the NFL… My question is why weren’t 31 other teams pursuing him? Because, if you think about it, the running back market is… $12 million… I know the Eagles looked at it as a steal.”
New York infamously elected to sign Daniel Jones to a four-year, $160 million contract en route to releasing Barkley. Jones played two years before being benched and subsequently released, with the Giants winning a total of nine games throughout the last two years.
Since Barkley’s departure, the New York offense has ranked no higher than 30th overall in offensive points throughout the past two seasons.
Meanwhile, the Eagles recorded the second most rushing yards and rushing touchdowns of the 2024 regular season and are currently preparing for their trip to Super Bowl LIX on February 9th.
While the decision to release Barkley will undoubtedly go down as one of the most irresponsible decisions in NFL history, perhaps it was for the best, as now both football fans and Barkley himself can finally enjoy his unbridled potential on the grandest stage of them all.
