It took just one season with the Philadelphia Eagles for Saquon Barkley to reach greater heights. While Jameis Winston was with the Cleveland Browns, he happily watched the MVP-caliber back from afar, proud to see him land and hit the ground running with his new team.
“I’m grateful that Saquon is getting his flowers,” Winston said recently, on ‘The Pivot.’
“He is showing the world what type of dynamic back he is.”
Now with the team that let him go, Winston’s statement is ironic, but the truth is what it is.
“Saquon had a team that didn’t believe in him,” he added. “I’m grateful to be with that team, but he had a team that didn’t believe in the type of player that he is. He used that to fuel his fire.”
The world witnessed the Giants fumble in the Barkley negotiations last year. While they wanted him back, they were unwilling to meet his price. The Giants suggested Barkley should hit the open market. Not only did the star back leave—but he took his talents to the Eagles—a direct rival of the Giants.
Being that Winston hasn’t suited up for the Giants in a game setting just yet, it doesn’t come as a surprise that he’s not as affected by the Giants’ decision to allow Barkley to walk, just to see him nearly break an NFL rushing record while winning a Super Bowl.
The veteran quarterback is simply enjoying the fact that Barkley silenced his critics.
“Saquon is too shifty, he doesn’t run down, he doesn’t run in between the tackles, he dodges tackles and stuff,” Winston said, mimicking previous narratives about Barkley. “They were like, ‘Oh, you’re not going to be a player, a finesse back isn’t gonna be able to make it like that.’ [He’s] beating the odds.”
After getting picked second overall in 2018 out of Penn State, Barkley had plenty of great flashes on the Giants. Throughout his first two seasons, he exceeded 1,000 rushing yards and even led the NFL in scrimmage yards during his rookie year.
An injury in 2020 prevented Barkley from playing in more than two games. When he returned for a 13-game stretch in 2021, Barkley posted his lowest total outside of 2020, with just 593 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
There was a bounce-back in 2022, when Barkley ran for over 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns in 16 games, but his 14-game run in 2023 finished with 962 yards and six touchdowns.
Barkley landed a three-year deal with the Eagles, worth nearly $40 million. After just one season with the Eagles, he was extended two more years, adding $41-plus million more to his upcoming earnings.
Winston is right, the Giants didn’t value Barkley enough. Maybe they see it now, but it’s too late. Barkley found the right situation for him as a running back and as a player in general. The Giants are now working to build their offense back up after making some big changes last year.
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