As Saquon Barkley prepares to play for a Super Bowl title, Keith McPherson says the Giants should be looking back and regretting that they let their star running back go.
Sure, drafting him second overall may not have been the wisest move in the first place, but Barkley quickly became the team’s most productive player on offense, and Keith says Joe Schoen should have tried harder to keep Barkley in New York, and the Giants GM is getting constant reminders about it as Barkley thrives in Philly.
“Former Giants, whether it’s Justin Tuck or Brandon Jacobs , they’re all tweeting about Saquon. You can’t let that happen,” Keith said.
“It’s one thing if you don’t want to pay the guy, or if you did offer a contract that he turned down once upon a time. If you even get an inkling that he’s talking to the Eagles, you gotta be blowing up his phone.”
Instead, Schoen let Barkley walk, despite warning from ownership that it would be tough to sleep if the fan favorite wound up signing with a hated rival. That has turned into pure nightmare material for John Mara, as Barkley put up an MVP caliber season with the Eagles, and is now one win away from winning a championship on his first year with his new team.
“He goes to your arch rival, and look at this, it’s snowballed,” Keith said. “I kind of get the idea that once they heard that it was the Eagles, they were out. They were ready to pivot to Brian Burns.
“Man, that doesn’t help your fanbase or the guys on the team.”
Barkley’s next chapter has included constant references to his Giants exit by analysts, announcers, and everyone in between, which is something Schoen has had to live with all season, in addition to watching a division rival reach the Super Bowl for the second time in three years while New York couldn’t feel farther away from reaching that level.
“Joe Schoen, he hasn’t been doing this long enough. You have to think about everything,” Keith said. “Saquon is a model citizen, a family man, he’s in the community…when that guy tells you ‘I want to be here,’ if you don’t have an immediate plan for success, why not try to keep one of the most solid, consistent, most reliable pieces of your franchise?”