'It Was Over After That Phone Call' - It's Infuriating Listening To Saquon Barkley Finally Talk About His Side Of Negotiations, Leaving The Giants
Here's the call that Saquon is talking about:
It was only a matter of time before Saquon sat down and explained his side of the story with leaving the Giants. I don't blame him for that, it's sports 101 during this time. What I do have a problem with is him trying to get sympathy and talking about being slapped in the face because the Giants let him test the free agency market. Talking about being disrespectful a bit because the Giants didn't want to overpay for a running back.
[Source] - “It’s kind of like a slap in the face (to say), ‘You go see what you are worth, and then if you’re worth that, we’ll see if you’re worth it, and maybe we’ll match it.’”
“It was over after that phone call, in my opinion,” Barkley told Russini. “It was over after that because I never in my heart truly believed they were going to match it, or they only wanted me for a lower price.”
About that phone call, Barkley added that he didn’t want to come off “begging” to return to New York. Barkley gave kudos to Schoen for sticking to his gut on his price point. But at the same time, Barkley said it was a little “disrespectful.”
Give me a fucking break. You thought it was a slap in the face for the team to let you see what the market is and not tie themselves up with a running back? That's just normal business. That's what every team should be doing. He goes on and talks about how he didn't think he ever had a fair negotiation with the Giants after the franchise tag. Buddy, it's 2024. What running back is having a 'fair' negotiation? Outside of McCaffrey looking at the running backs on successful teams. They are on rookie contracts, they are by committee or you're the 49ers, who has the cheap QB.
Sure, he gave Schoen credit (to a degree) about sticking to his gut and he said he regrets not putting out a video to fans. Whatever. I'm sick of hearing Saquon talk about how he didn't get a fair deal from the Giants. You are now an enemy. That's the only way fans should look at Saquon. He plays for the Eagles. If you want him or any Eagle to play well, you simply are not a Giants fan.
Again, what Joe Schoen did here was the correct move. He handled it perfectly. You let Saquon hit the market, see what happens. I have no problem with that at all. This team isn't a contender, so what good does it do overpaying for Saquon? It would be as dumb as drafting a running back at 2nd overall because you have an incompetent GM at the time who thinks that's the missing piece. Beat the Eagles.