Saquon Barkley leaving Giants to sign with rival Eagles on three-year contract
The star player who previously declared he wanted to be a Giant for life is going to the hated rival.
In a stunning turn of events, Saquon Barkley announced Monday on X that he is leaving the Giants after six seasons to sign with the Eagles.
“Thank you to everyone who has shown me love and support over the past 6 years… forever grateful! Excited for the next chapter,” Barkley posted. He followed that up by posting two bald eagle emojis, declaring his intention to go to Philadelphia.
— Saquon Barkley (@saquon) March 11, 2024
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the deal is for $37.5 million over three years. It has the potential to be worth $46.75 million with incentives and includes $26 million fully guaranteed at signing.
The Giants last week declined to give Barkley a second consecutive franchise tag, which would’ve cost them $12.1 million for the 2024 season.
Barkley’s maximum average salary over the next three seasons is now $15.8 million, which would be the second-highest for a running back in NFL history behind only San Francisco’s Christian McCaffery’s $16 million.
The deal won’t be official until Wednesday, when free agency officially begins. Teams were permitted to begin negotiating with free agents Monday.
The New York Post reported that the Giants never actually made an offer to Barkley on Monday. The Bears and Texans were also in the running for the 27-year-old’s services.
The Giants reportedly made multi-year offers to Barkley last summer in the range of $14 million per season, which would’ve been the third-highest APY among running backs at the time, but Barkley wanted more guaranteed money upfront. The Giants were offering about $23 million at signing.
Rather than slap him with another franchise tag and keep him off the market, the Giants decided to let Barkley see what his value was to other teams.
“No @Giants fans can be mad at @saquon,” offensive lineman Justin Pugh, who is also a free agent after playing for the Giants last season, posted on X. “He sacrificed it all for the team and organization. The Giants decided they could only pay him a set amount, Philly was willing to pay more. Plain and simple. Business of football. Will discuss tonight on @NetWorthShow.”
Barkley, who was controversially the No. 2 pick out of Penn State in the 2018 NFL Draft, played 74 regular-season games with the Giants, totaling 5,211 rushing yards on 1,201 carries (4.3 yards per carry), 35 rushing touchdowns, 396 receptions, 2,100 receiving yards and 12 receiving touchdowns.
Barkley also posted 191 total yards and two rushing touchdowns in his only two playoff games with the franchise in the 2022 season when the Giants beat the Vikings in the NFC Wild Card Round before falling to the Eagles in the Divisional Round.
But the front office, led by third-year general manager Joe Schoen, clearly evaluated that the Giants have done too much losing with too many remaining holes on the roster to justify paying Barkley whatever it took to keep him.
Barkley missed game time because of injuries in all but two of his six seasons in New York including a torn ACL that cost him 14 games in 2020. The Giants had a 26-50 record in the 76 games in which Barkley played.
Barkley replaces D’Andre Swift, who went to the Bears in an earlier move on Monday, in the Eagles’ backfield.
The Eagles also reached an agreement with defensive end Bryce Huff on a deal worth $51.1 million over three years, according to Schefter.
The 25-year old Huff spent the last four seasons with the Jets. Huff goes from undrafted to a big pay day after recording a career-best 10 sacks last season. He still needs to develop as a run defender to be more than a pass-rush specialist.
Huff has 17 1/2 career sacks, 65 total tackles and one forced fumble in four seasons. The arrival of the 6-foot-3, 255-pound rusher could signal the end of either Josh Sweat or Haason Reddick’s time in Philadelphia.
The Associated Press contributed to this story