Eagles wide receiver AJ Brown appears to have been watching “Hard Knocks” and it gave him a little extra motivation ahead of the 2024 season.
Brown showed his support for new teammate Saquon Barkley in a now-deleted post after details of the running back’s negotiations with his former Giants team were exposed during the recent premiere of HBO’s “Hard Knocks.”
“I was excited to see the Saxon video but it wasn’t about me,” Brown wrote in a since-deleted post, which was filmed by @brgridiron at X. “I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure y’all win!””
Giants general manager Joe Sean was seen debating multiple times what to do with Barkley once he became a free agent.
“What are we really getting for him unless we go down to $7 million? I don’t want to offer that amount because I don’t want to seem like I’ve disrespected him,” Sean said. A conversation with Giants owner John Mara He said on “Hard ‘Knocks'”: “All I need is one of the 31 teams willing to do something. If they don’t get there, I’ll let you be a free agent. Check your market, come back and let me know if you can handle it. If you can, let’s have that conversation.”
Coach Sean apparently didn’t want to get involved in a bidding war to retain Barkley, who signed a three-year, $37.5 million contract ($12.5 million average) with $26 million guaranteed from the Eagles.
Incentives in the contract could raise Barkley’s potential earnings to as much as $46 million.
As he further discusses team-building with his closest front-office executives, Sean said a big reason for not spending big on Barkley is quarterback Daniel Jones’ contract.
“You need to upgrade your offensive line. You’re paying that guy $40 million, not to hand the ball to a $12 million running back,” Sean told director of player personnel Tim McDonnell, who questioned the team’s offensive prowess without Barkley.
Brown and the Eagles are fresh off a disappointing season in which they started 10-1 but struggled to the finish line and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
They hope Barkley can be the missing piece to their team and give them a needed locker room presence to hold the team together.
Brown and Barkley were spotted courtside at a playoff game between the 76ers and the Knicks in May, leading some Knicks fans to call him a traitor.
Barkley claimed he never received an offer to return to New York.
