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Barkley signs with Eagles...


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I didn't see this posted on the site, if was already, moderators please merge/delete, thx. 

https://nypost.com/2024/03/11/sports/saquon-barkley-signing-with-eagles-in-nfl-free-agency-stunner/

Saquon Barkley’s wish to be a Giant for life will not be granted.

Instead, he has flown the coop and is headed to the rival Eagles.

Saquon Barkley is leaving the Giants to sign with the rival Eagles in NFL free agency.5
Saquon Barkley is leaving the Giants to sign with the rival Eagles in NFL free agency.Corey Sipkin for the NY POST

The star running back on Monday, the first day of free agency, agreed to a three-year contract to trade blue for green and play for the Eagles.

The deal is worth $37.75 million, The Post confirmed, with a guarantee of $26 million.

Barkley took to X to post a goodbye: “Thank you to everyone who has shown me love and support over the past 6 years… forever grateful! Excited for the next chapter.”

This will not sit well with Giants fans who bought Barkley’s No. 26 jersey and now will see him play for an NFC East opponent that they despise.

Barkley was born in The Bronx but grew up in Coplay, Pa. and starred at Penn State, making this a return to his roots.

Saquon Barkley running with ball in football game against Philadelphia Eagles in 2023.5
Saquon Barkley spent six seasons with the Giants.AP

And the fact that the Eagles are the arch-rivals of the Giants makes this move even more painful for one side and exhilarating for the other.

With Barkley, the Giants were regularly beaten and often trounced by the Eagles – he went 3-10 against them the past six seasons. Now, Barkley will get a chance to see how the other half lives in this Jersey Turnpike rivalry.

Thus ends what must be viewed as an unfulfilling six-year stay for Barkley with the Giants, the team that went against traditional positional value protocols and took him with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.

That decision was made by the Dave Gettleman front office. The current front office, led by general manager Joe Schoen, wanted to retain Barkley but refused to financially extend beyond what today’s market for running backs indicated Barkley should be paid.

This is a seismic shift for an organization that believed Barkley would be the face of the franchise, on the field and off it.

Saquon Barkley and Anna Congdon pose for a picture at the Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team 2024 Livery Reveal in Las Vegas.5
Saquon Barkley with Anna Congdon at a Super Bowl week event.Getty Images for Cash App

Barkley mostly lived up to that incredibly high standard. He was never afforded the luxury of a quality offensive line and rarely was surrounded by a high-quality passing attack, leading to loaded defensive boxes lined up to stop him.

Four times in six years, Barkley missed games because of injuries. Through it all, he was a leader in the locker room, commanding great respect from his teammates, dutifully reciting the company line and insisting that “when’’ and not “if’’ the Giants turned things around he wanted to be there for it.

Off the field, Barkley was a champion in the community and the past two years was the team’s Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee. His No. 26 jersey was far and away the most visible and popular, inside MetLife Stadium, malls in New Jersey and the New York area and on the backs of youngsters and fans wherever they roamed.

Saquon Barkley #26 and Sterling Shepard #3 of New York Giants celebrate after the game.5
Saquon Barkley is now on the rival EaglesCharles Wenzelberg / New York Post

 


Barkley, 27, embarks on the next chapter of his career in Philly. With the Giants, Barkley endured five losing seasons in his six years, playing for three different head coaches.

In many ways, his first season was his finest, with 1,307 rushing yards and what turned out as career-highs in rushing average (5.0) and receptions (91). Barkley was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and he was on his way to greatness, it seemed.

Injuries compromised his ensuing seasons. He managed to get to 1,003 rushing yards in 2019 but tore his ACL in Week 3 in 2020, ending his season after only two games. Barkley struggled to regain his form and ran for only 593 yards in 13 games in 2021.

Saquon Barkley of the New York Giants running with the ball during the second half of a game against the New Orleans Saints.5
The Giants weren’t willing to meet the Eagles price.Corey Sipkin for the NY POST

With the new regime of Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll on board in 2022, Barkley had to prove himself and he did, with a career-high 1,317 rushing yards. Just as importantly, Barkley finally played for a winning team, as the Giants went 9-7-1 and then beat the Vikings in the wild-card round before getting trounced by the Eagles.

The production and the contribution to winning convinced the Giants to get a multi-year deal done with Barkley but an agreement at the bye week in 2022 and again after that season could not be reached. The Giants put the franchise tag of $10.1 million on Barkley and he played on that after rejecting a contract that would have guaranteed him nearly $23 million for two years.

In 2023, Barkley missed three games with a high ankle sprain and ran for 962 yards, averaging only 3.9 yards per carry. He did match his career-high with four receiving touchdowns. That production was not enough to convince the Giants that Barkley deserved more money than their previous best offers to him.

Without Barkley, the Giants need to restock their running back room. The only returning player with any experience whatsoever is Eric Gray, a fifth-round pick in 2023 who had only 17 rushing attempts as a rookie and failed when given the punt returner job.

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Hard to believe the Giants franchised him last year and signed Dimes to an extension. It should have been the other way around. Now Barkley gets to torture his old team twice a year. Huge mistake.

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Eagles are a serious franchise, once they dumped Joe  Douglas on us they are soaring. 
Other than losing to the Wilson Jets and folding like a cheap umbrella down the stretch last year, they've been fantastic!
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17 hours ago, bicketybam said:
17 hours ago, The Crusher said:
Eagles are a serious franchise, once they dumped Joe  Douglas on us they are soaring. 

Other than losing to the Wilson Jets and folding like a cheap umbrella down the stretch last year, they've been fantastic!

Eagles should rehire Kotite

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