Giants Fumbled The Saquon Barkley Situation Worse Than We All Thought

Saquon Barkley went through personal turmoil as he called the New York Giants' front office’s bluff, and he ultimately got his way — though he once preferred to stay with the franchise that drafted him.

The former Giants running back is telling his side of the story in an Amazon documentary ("Saquon") set to air in segments during Thursday night’s Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants game.

Barkley remains the common thread between the rival teams, especially after going back and forth with New York’s management to secure his preferred deal — one that didn’t go through but ultimately benefited Barkley more than the Giants.

Saquon Barkley of the New York Giants. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

For more guaranteed money and a bigger deal, Barkley left the Giants in free agency and won a Super Bowl in his first season with Philly.

Barkley, for the most part, remained mum during negotiations but now gets to tell all on the Giants’ negligence — and the star runner’s skyrocketing ascension after "divorcing" his original team.

"Everyone gets to f**k me over," Barkley said in the new documentary. "But I can never do what I want to do."

The Giants’ final offer to Saquon Barkley — about three years, $33–34 million with $22–23 million guaranteed — fell just shy of what he ultimately got from Philadelphia.

The Eagles swooped in with a three-year, $37.75 million deal and $26 million guaranteed — barely a bump in pay, but enough to pry him away.

Now, after a two-year, $41.2 million extension, it’s clear the Giants penny-pinched their franchise star right out the door.

"I would’ve signed for $10 million, $11 million [per year] if they would’ve just operated a whole different way," Barkley added. "If I felt in my heart they tried their best to get it done."

Saquon Barkley of the Philadelphia Eagles. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

Adding to Barkley’s woes in negotiations, he asked team owner John Mara to grant him a trade request in 2023 — which Mara quickly shut down, much to the detriment of both Barkley and the Giants.

"I’m not going to do that," Mara said to his star ex-running back. "That makes no sense for us. To be honest with you, it’s not going to be in your long-term best interest to do that. There’s no way that I would allow that at this point. You are too valuable to this franchise."

Joe Schoen, mocked as the Giants general manager for failing to do his job, also tried to dissuade Barkley from wanting out of New York.

"You sure you think this is the right course of action?" Schoen told Barkley. "Think about it for a little bit — the deal that was offered. We had already stretched to put you in very good company over a lot of other backs."

John K. Mara, owner and CEO of the New York Giants looks on before pre-season football game against the Carolina Panthers at MetLife Stadium on August 18, 2023 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

The documentary, filmed throughout that span of acrimony with the Giants, showcases Barkley’s patience under pressure.

"It was a joke," Barkley said, reflecting on the ordeal. "It really was a spit in my face. And then come out here and give me the ball 35 times. They really don’t appreciate me, to be completely honest. They think they’re trying to run me into the dirt, get what they can get, and then hopefully something bad happens so he can f**king go somewhere else."

During his six seasons with the Giants (2018–2023), Saquon Barkley carried the offense with 1,201 rushes for 5,211 yards and 47 touchdowns, earning two Pro Bowl selections and the 2018 Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

Despite injuries in 2020 and 2021, he remained New York’s heartbeat — producing highlight runs and powering their 2022 playoff push — a dominant, all-around back the Giants never quite managed to fully build around.

Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela