Saquon Barkley is having a storybook season in Philadelphia after a nightmare of an offseason with the New York Giants.
On Sunday, the Eagles running back made history with a franchise-record 255 yards rushing in the team’s 37-20 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
Barkley, whose much-discussed offseason contract negotiations with the Giants were documented on “Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants,” has found his stride in Philly, and his seventh NFL season has been one for the record books through Week 12.
While Barkley has moved on from his time in East Rutherford, the Giants have fallen apart since his departure to their NFC East foes. The Eagles are currently sitting pretty at 9-2 and at the top of the division. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the 2-9 Giants are on a six-game losing skid and recently released franchise quarterback Daniel Jones with two years left on his $160 million contract.
FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd had a few thoughts on Monday’s episode of “The Herd” about the correlation between the Giants’ decision to part ways with Barkley and their downward spiral this season, wondering if the team might have cursed itself.
“Saquon Barkley from the New York Giants to the rival Eagles has got a Babe Ruth, Red Sox to the Yankees feel to it. Are the Giants going to be cursed for 100 years? The last 10 they have been,” Cowherd said.
[Related: 2024 NFL odds: Will Saquon Barkley best single-season rushing record?]
Barkley currently leads the league with 1,392 yards rushing and 6.2 yards per carry, including a league-best seven 100-yard rushing games. He is also being talked up as a possible MVP candidate, which could make him the first RB MVP since Adrian Peterson in 2012 when he finished with 2,097 rushing yards.
“Saquon now is averaging more yards a carry, as he went for 255 last night, than the Giants are yards per pass,” Cowherd continued. “He’s going to break the all-time potential record for a running back in one season. Scrimmage yards, rushing record. [He] put on a clinic last night.”
Cowherd went on to talk about the value the 27-year-old brings to the Philadelphia offensive line, now partnered with other stars like Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown.
“We knew Saquon would be better because the Giants had a bad O-line and Saquon was great. They have a bad quarterback and Saquon was great … the Eagles are above-average at both. In fact, I’d argue their O-line’s the second-best in the sport to the Lions … The Giants didn’t have any star receivers during Saquon’s run, so therefore, opposing safeties could cheat … get in the box. So the Giants had a bad quarterback, a bad O-line, no star receivers. You could cheat … and you still struggle to stop him.”
What is still perplexing to Cowherd is the way the front office declined to pay Barkley once he became a free agent. The Penn State phenom set several NFL records during his time with the team, winning the 2018 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year as well as being named a two-time Pro Bowler.
“Not all front offices are equal … but some are playing chess, the Eagles. And, some are playing Candy Crush, the Giants,” Cowherd said.
“And remember the quote this offseason from Joe Schoen, the New York Giants GM? Remember that quote? He said, ‘we’re not paying Daniel Jones $40 million to hand off to a $12 million running back.’ Why not? I mean, Philadelphia is paying Jalen Hurts $51 million to hand off to him. Seems like it’s working. You can’t have an expensive running back and an expensive quarterback? You can if they’re Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley.”
“If you couldn’t see this thing coming from a mile away, you should not be the general manager of the New York Football Giants,” Cowherd added.
Meanwhile, former Eagles linebacker and FS1’s “The Facility” co-host Emmanuel Acho weighed in on the same topic Monday.
“Can we be honest? The only thing giant about New York is the mistakes that they made this offseason. Think about this for a second. They let go of Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney, amongst others,” Acho began.
“Xavier McKinney … he has seven interceptions on the season [for the Packers]. You want to know how many the New York Giants have? They only have one. They let go of Saquon Barkley … He had 302 scrimmage yards yesterday against the 26th-ranked defense … The Giants only had 268 scrimmage yards as a team against the 24th-ranked defense,” Acho continued.
“So let me get this straight. The New York Football Giants are only giant at making mistakes. Xavier McKinney had just as many interceptions yesterday as the Giants all season, and Saquon Barkley, he’s setting career highs.
“Meanwhile, the Giants are on pace for 14 losses. That would be the most in their franchise history. Career low, giant mistakes,” Acho concluded.
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