Saquon Barkley regrets handling of his move from New York Giants to Philadelphia Eagles. What did he say?
After leaving his team to join a division a division rival, the star running back is now coming to terms with the true effects of his decision to do so.
Star running back Saquon Barkley is now a Philadelphia Eagles player. Indeed, Barkley’s move from the New York Giants has caused a great deal of unrest in the Big Apple with the Eagles being a direct rival in the NFC East, and that’s something he now understands clearly.
Saquon Barkley expresses regret over handling of trade
According to newly signed Philadelphia Eagles running back, Saquon Barkley, it was when he saw his daughter dressed in the green of the Eagles and not the blue of his former team, the New York Giants, that his perspective on his move to Philly changed. Barkley admitted that even putting on his new team’s gear ahead of his official presentation last Thursday felt weird. “We’ve been on the worse side of the rivalry, I guess you could say, for the past couple of years,” Barkley said. “But I’m happy to be a Philadelphia Eagle.”
If you’re wondering, since he was selected by the Giants with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, the team has gone 3-10 - including the postseason - against the Eagles. Given the animosity that exists between the teams, a player of Barkley’s magnitude moving between them was always going to cause a lot of noise, and Barkley admits that he didn’t handle that very well. It’s worth noting that the 27-year-old was quick to state that he has nothing but respect for the Giants and the way in which the franchise treated him during the six years that he spent with it. Of course, that was not enough for some and they made it known.
It was a rough ride for Saquon Barkley and he knows that
If you caught our previous report about the comments from former Giants running back and current New York-based radio host, Tiki Barber, you will know exactly what we mean. Speaking on air, Barber made it clear that Barkley is now “dead to me,” after he put pen to paper on a three-year, $37.75 million deal with $26 million guaranteed with the Eagles on Monday. As you can imagine, it wasn’t long before Barkley responded in kind with some choice words of his own, something he now understands was not necessarily the best way to handle the situation.
“I don’t think I really handled it the right way on social media. I think I could have gave a proper goodbye. Like I said, once I announced, it kind of got hectic. But yeah, I’m forever grateful for the Giants fans. So grateful for them. But unfortunately, the NFL is a business. And I was able to get to a place that I know I can compete, I can win. I can stay close to home.” To be clear, the Giants made the postseason in just one of his years on the team (2022) and ironically, that trip ended with a loss to the Eagles. Ultimately, Barkley is only looking forward now and with that, he’s itching to get going. A “fresh start,” Barkley said, is something he is looking forward to. “I feel like I’m a rookie again,” he said before adding, “I’m a special player. I feel like I’ve got a lot left. I got a lot to prove.”
Of course, another aspect of the troubles Barkley found himself in is related to allegations of ‘tampering.’ While that is an issue that reflects more on his new team than it does on him, it’s worth noting that the NFL is understood to be investigating what exactly happened between Barkley and the Eagles, after the player’s former coach at Penn State suggested that the franchise had direct contact with Barkley during the legal tampering period. Both Barkley and the Eagles have since denied that such a thing happened, however, we can only wait and watch.