The New York Giants and Saquon Barkley were bound to part ways at some point.
For years, Barkley tried to make things work with the organization, and he openly talked about his desire to play for them for the remainder of his career.
Clearly, the team didn’t feel the same way about him.
However, it wasn’t clear how much they didn’t value him until a now-viral clip of GM Joe Schoen aired on HBO’s Hard Knocks.
Schoen literally said that they didn’t want to have a $40 million quarterback hand the ball off to a $12 million running back.
He also questioned whether someone around the league would even consider meeting Barkley’s asking price, especially considering how many running backs would enter free agency.
Needless to say, those comments rubbed plenty of people the wrong way, including some close to the organization.
That includes Plaxico Burress.
In his latest appearance on The Carton Show, he admitted to being dumbfounded by Schoen’s comments, adding that he just couldn’t believe he didn’t know how valuable a player like Barkley was to that offense.
“I’m just totally kind of dumbfounded with Joe Schoen’s comments.”
— @plaxicoburress reacts to the Giants GM’s thoughts on Saquon Barkley in Hard Knocks pic.twitter.com/L5Z4QG8tL3
— The Carton Show (@TheCartonShow) July 4, 2024
All quarterbacks need an established running game to make their jobs easier, and Barkley is one of the most impactful offensive players in the game.
The Giants could’ve had him and Malik Nabers, and Daniel Jones would’ve definitely taken that every day of the week.
This is a business, and as such, you have to make some tough calls.
Even so, it just feels like Schoen made a big mistake here, and only time will tell if he was right or not.
