Big Blue View
Saquon Barkley’s bitterness toward the New York Giants and the business of the NFL shows through loud and clear in the new “SAQUON” documentary debuting Thursday morning on Amazon Prime Video. And, yes, the video was timed to coincide with the Giants facing the Philadelphia Eagles Thursday night on Prime.
Barkley’s belief that the Giants were just trying to use him up before sending him on his way was crystal clear in a phone conversation he had after a 35-carry game against the Houston Texans in 2022, when his contract had become front and center.
He called a conversation he had with the Giants prior to that game “a joke.”
“They literally spit in my face,” Barkley said. “And then give me the ball 35 times. They really don’t appreciate me. They’re literally just trying to run me into the dirt, get what they can and hopefully something bad happens so you can go somewhere else.”
Barkley did, of course, go somewhere else.
Here is another line from Barkley that indicated his frustration with the Giants:
“They just make me want to do some s— that’s not in my character … they keep telling me I’m the best running back in the NFL. So, pay me like I’m the best running back in the NFL.
“The game pushes you to be someone you’re not. They say don’t take business personal. But, it is personal. Everybody wants to be wanted. Whether you’re a 6-year-old kid or whether you’re a 27-year-old NFL star.”
Here are some of the takeaways from the 90-minute documentary, which I was able to preview on Wednesday.
At one point, just minutes before the negotiating window ended and Barkley would be forced to sign the franchise tag or sit out, he point-blank asked owner John Mara if he would allow GM Joe Schoen to trade him. The answer was no.
“No, Saquon. I’m not gonna do that,” Mara said. “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 him to trade you at this point, no. I’m just being honest with you. You are too valuable to this franchise.”
Barkley’s closed eyes and body language on hearing that told you how he felt.
Mara told Barkley “we can agree to disagree on the numbers” but that “we’re going over and above.”
Barkley told his agent, Ed Berry, that “I feel trapped.”
Throughout the two offseasons the Giants and Barkley discussed a contract, it was clear that Barkley never really believed the Giants wanted to get a long-term deal with him.
That was clear after the Giants tagged him in 2022, when the two sides tried to work out a deal before the deadline that would force Barkley to play on the tag.
“All this is is the principle. I...
