If Giants owner John Mara had thought so, Saquon Barkley might still be a part of Big Blue.
The premiere episode of “Hard Knocks: The New York Giants’ Offseason” explored a variety of offseason issues facing Joe Shawn and the Giants’ brain trust, but the departure of the 2018 first-round draft pick played a central role throughout the 40-minute episode.
The most memorable moment came on Feb. 13, when Sean and Mara had a conversation at the Giants’ facility in East Rutherford.
HBO cameras caught the two men candidly discussing what putting the franchise tag on Barkley would actually accomplish and whether a trade market would exist for Barkley if they decided to go that route.
“What are you really getting unless you go down to $7 million? I don’t want to offer him that amount because I don’t want to look like I’m not respecting him,” Sean said during the conversation. “There are 31 teams and one is enough if they’re willing to do something. If they can’t go down there, I’ll let him be a free agent. Check the market and come back and let me know if we can match that amount and if we can, we’ll have that conversation.”
At the time, Mara said he still wanted to bring back the Penn State alum, telling Sean, “In an ideal world, I’d still like to have him back.”
Mara said something similar in March, telling reporters that he told Barkley he was “sick and tired” of the fact the Giants were losing him.
Barkley signed a three-year, $37.75 million contract with the Eagles at the start of free agency, with $26 million guaranteed.
While the Giants’ ownership has expressed a desire to keep Barkley, Sean noted in the episode the need to bolster the offensive line and give quarterback Daniel Jones a better chance to succeed next season.
The Giants signed Jones to a big contract extension for 2023, but he struggled to start the season and played in just six games before having surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee.
“Daniel’s making a lot of money and so is Faulk, so we’ve got to see if he’s the guy, so we’ve got to protect him,” Sean said. “We’ve got to put resources in there. … We’ve got to find a running back, but we’ve got to upgrade our offensive line to give him an opportunity.”
Sean then outlined some potential running back free agent candidates that could emerge once the market opens up.
Among the names mentioned was veteran running back Devin Singletary, who was ultimately named Barkley’s replacement.
The Giants’ third-year general manager predicted there will be “valuable players” on the free market.
Sean’s thinking was even clearer in a later scene where he was discussing offseason plans with the football operations staff.
“We need to upgrade our offensive line, [Jones] “For $40 million, I’m not going to hand the ball to a $12 million running back,” Sean said of concerns the Giants will lose most of their offensive line. “My plan is to address the offensive line at some point in free agency. We’re ranked sixth and could have some offensive weapons there. This is Daniel’s year.”
