Why Eagles' Saquon Barkley is grateful to Giants after becoming Super Bowl champion

Running back Saquon Barkley could enjoy some victory laps this winter due to the fact that the New York Giants letting him reach free agency last March resulted in the 28-year-old becoming a Super Bowl champion with the Philadelphia Eagles. 

During a Wednesday appearance on "The Howard Stern Show," Barkley went a different route while speaking about Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch.

"You know, I've seen worse, to be honest," Barkley said about what he experienced last offseason, as shared by John McMullen of Sports Illustrated. "I've seen worse and they could have done me wrong, again. They could have tagged me, could have forced me, they could have traded me. ...What they did in our business, you know, was kind of the respectable thing to do, which there's no surprise because Mr. Mara and Tisch and that whole organization's first class. So I took it more as a motivation of, you know, my story's not done and I can continue to add more chapters to the story."

Barkley and the Giants failed to come to terms on a multi-year contract extension from the fall of 2022 up until general manager Joe Schoen retained the ball-carrier's rights for 2023 via the non-exclusive franchise tag. By all accounts, Schoen never came close to meeting Barkley's asking price up through last February, when the Giants could've again prevented Barkley from hitting the open market by tagging him. 

Instead, Schoen and Co. let Barkley speak with other clubs when the legal tampering portion of free agency began. Barkley ultimately wasted little time in signing a three-year, $37.75M contract with $26M fully guaranteed to join the Eagles. 

"Did I feel disrespected at the time? A hundred percent," Barkley admitted. "But, the bigger chip on my shoulder, the thing that drives me the most is being obsessed with wanting to be great."

Barkley was more than great, as he ended the regular season with a league-best 2,283 yards from scrimmage en route to helping the Eagles get to 14-3. He was later named the 2024 NFL Offensive Player of the Year days before he got his hands on the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the first time.

On Wednesday, Barkley added that any chip on his shoulder was related to his "obsession of trying to be great rather than a get back or flipping the bird to the Giants, because it's a business." 

In the end, the football and business decisions made by all involved last March worked out quite well for Barkley.