Perhaps New York Giants owner John Mara prepared for another night of little sleep by watching his team’s arch-rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, revel in their dominant Super Bowl LIX victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night down in New Orleans.
Perhaps general manager Joe Schoen was watching the post-game festivities, where quarterback Jalen Hurts sat with ESPN and sang the praises of his teammate, running back Saquon Barkley.
“He became a part of the team and you know, he wasn’t gonna be the leading guy in receptions,” Hurts said after his Super Bowl MVP performance supported a remarkable defensive effort, which shut down Patrick Mahomes and the dynasty-hopeful Chiefs. “But he was all-in and just trying to build a bond. I think the energy Saquon has brought, how he leads, I think has oozed throughout our team. I think it couldn’t be a better complement.”
Barkley’s first Super Bowl ring was the cherry on top of a remarkable first season with the Eagles. He became just the ninth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in the regular season (2,005), before a monstrous postseason saw him break Terrell Davis’ 1998 record for most scrimmage and rushing yards in a season (both regular season and playoffs).
He rushed for 57 yards and posted an additional 40 receiving — the final act of a superstar who continuously put his team first, strived to play winning football, and was a jelling presence in a once precarious Eagles locker room that crashed out of the Wild Card round last season.
Of course, it never had to come to this for the Giants. Barkley never had to move those 96 miles southwest of MetLife Stadium.
But he was allowed to because of the sheer ignorance of his former boss, who remains convinced superstars of his calibers are a dime a dozen in the backfield, that players who can contribute to a winning culture are not a necessity for a team that has been unsuccessfully trying to rebuild itself into a consistent contender for the better part of the last 12 years.
“I already told you where I want to be,” Barkley, who repeatedly said he wanted to be a Giant for life, told Schoen early last offseason in a phone conversation caught by HBO’s Hard Knocks. This was after Schoen told the 28-year-old that he and his agent had to go out into the market, find out what his value was, and then circle back to the Giants to see if they would match — something that was never really going to happen.
Barkley told Dianna Russini on The Athletic’s Scoop City Podcast that “I was a little fed up” after that conversation, which paved the way to a three-year, $37.5 million deal with the Eagles — a deal that looks like a bargain now.
Now he gets the last laugh, and deservedly so, while the Giants are almost inexplicably giving Schoen one more chance to salvage the 3-14 dumpster fire that he built.
If only someone in that building had the presence of mind to hang on to the generational talent, who might not have translated into many more wins this season but was a foundational piece to build around. Instead, Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll paid Daniel Jones instead, and we all see how that ended up.
