Giants players discuss Saquon Barkley helping Eagles make Super Bowl

Pass-rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux shared in January 2024 that he felt the New York Giants should’ve locked running back Saquon Barkley down via a new contract before the club signed quarterback Daniel Jones in March 2023. Thibodeaux and others later watched as Barkley joined the rival Philadelphia Eagles last offseason, helping them reach Super Bowl LIX. 

Understandably, Thibodeaux is among New York players feeling mixed emotions as Barkley and the Eagles prepare to face the Kansas City Chiefs this Sunday. 

“I hate the Eagles, man,” Thibodeaux recently told Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. “But on a personal level, super proud of Saquon, super proud of what he’s been able to do. I think everybody has their own trials and tribulations and mountains to climb, and he’s been climbing his, so definitely, I’m not rooting for the Eagles, but I’m rooting for him.” 

Numerous analysts, reporters and fans have taken shots at the Giants for letting Barkley reach free agency roughly 11 months ago. While Big Blue ended the season at 3-14, Barkley will enter Thursday night’s NFL Honors as a finalist for the AP Offensive Player of the Year and regular-season Most Valuable Player Awards. The 27-year-old, part of just one playoff win during his Giants tenure from 2018-2023, could hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy while wearing Eagles green as soon as Sunday night.  

“I’m proud of Saquon,” Giants wide receiver Jalin Hyatt told Scott Thompson of Fox News Digital this week. “When I came in as a rookie when he was here [with the Giants in 2023], he was like a big bro for me. Helping me through the facility, helping me through plays on the field. Just really being a leader for me, and I have so much respect for him for that. Just to see what he’s doing over there with the Eagles, I’m really not surprised what he’s doing. He’s a special player. I’m definitely going to be rooting for him for sure for what he can do. I’m just proud of him.”

Before Week 18 of this season, unnamed players publicly stated that they felt “Barkley’s presence in the locker room was underestimated by the Giants’ brass” when general manager Joe Schoen decided not to match Barkley’s contract requests. Barkley could now cement himself as the greatest offseason acquisition in Eagles history by leading the team to a championship, perhaps as the MVP of the upcoming Super Bowl. 

“It’s tough because we all understand this is a business,” Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke told Schwartz. “The pride and love we have for being a New York Giant, at the end of the day we have a team owner, we have a general manager, we have a lot of people in the finance department upstairs who deal with the numbers outside of the Xs and Os of football. So there is that aspect of it. We have a lot of love and respect for Saquon, for the leadership he showed when he was a Giant and the plays that he made.” 

Debates about whether or not Schoen should’ve prevented Barkley from hitting the open market last March could continue long after this Sunday’s game concludes. For now, all Okereke and his current teammates can do is wonder what could’ve been had the Giants given Barkley more help over the first six seasons of his career.