Saquon Barkley is giving his side of the contract negotiations with the Giants that played out on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.”
In a Monday teaser clip for the next episode of The Athletic’s “Scoop City” podcast set to be released Tuesday, Barkley addressed the phone call he had with Joe Schoen in which the Giants GM tells the running back to test the market and asked him to come back to him with a chance to match his preferred offer.
At that moment, Barkley believed his “Giant for life” hopes were finished.
“It was over after that phone call, in my opinion,” Barkley told The Athletic.
“I never in my heart truly believed that they were going to match it, or they only wanted me for a lower price. So no matter what, I probably wasn’t going to go back.”
Barkley, 27, signed with the rival Eagles on a three-year, $37.75 million contract with $26 million guaranteed.
His agent, Ed Berry, told Schoen that Barkley was offered a $12.5 million average over three years with $25 million guaranteed from another team.
Schoen asked Berry if Barkley would be a Giant if he offered those numbers, and Berry “hemmed and hawed,” Schoen told Giants owner John Mara on “Hard Knocks.”
At one point, Mara said he’d “have a tough time sleeping if Saquon goes to Philly, I’ll tell you that,” because he was the team’s most popular player “by far.”
When told by Berry that the Giants would have to go north of the previously mentioned numbers, Schoen told Berry the Giants were out.
All involved parties were aware their conversations could be used on “Hard Knocks.”
Barkley, whom the Giants selected No. 2 overall in the 2018 draft, had 962 yards rushing, 280 yards receiving and 10 total touchdowns in 14 games last season.