Eagles HC Nick Sirianni throws jab at Giants fans for chirping at him - "We got your best player"
The Philadelphia Eagles signed Saquon Barkley back in March, in what was one of the strangest moves of the entire offseason. Barkley played college football at Penn State, but not only did he develop a relationship with the Giants fans, he also signed with a team that's known for its lack of resources applied to the running back position.
It apparently doesn't matter one bit to head coach Nick Sirianni, who loves Barkley and has been adamant about this since the minicamps started. When asked about Giants fans being around the Eagles' minicamp and interacting with Sirianni, he made it clear that his jab included mentioning Barkley:
"You know, sometimes you see Giants fans around here, being so close and they give me a good like 'Hey, go Giants!' and I'd typically let it go. But if the guy gets me good enough, I usually say 'we got your best player."
Did the Eagles make a mistake by signing Saquon Barkley?
Unlike what was seen in 2023, a running back did well in the most recent free agency: Saquon Barkley signed a three-year, $37.75 million ($12.5M average) with the Philadelphia Eagles.
What's impressive about this deal is that $26 million is guaranteed, practically ensuring that the player won't be cut before the end of the 2025 season. That's a move that's not typical of Howie Roseman, the general manager of the Philadelphia Eagles, since he has always opted for cheap names or rookies from lower rounds and avoided spending capital on veterans in the role.
Barkley was 22nd among 24 qualified running backs in the league the previous year. In 2022, he was eighth, but even so, due to a performance built in the first half of the year - his performances dropped a lot after that. After the 202 bye week, the running back played 22 games and only amassed over 100 rushing yards in two of them.
A release before the end of the 2025 season is impossible, since Barkley would leave at least $14 million in dead money on the payroll and wouldn't open up any cap space. So Philadelphia is banking on at least two years of production from the player.
Risky, to say the least.