Saquon Barkley Excited to Experience “Other Side” of Giants-Eagles Rivalry

For those in the stands and the outskirts of the Big Apple, the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles rivalry carries a weight of different meanings as one of the longest and most buzz-worthy duels in NFL history, that has seen so many big moments and is now bringing an intriguing twist into the 2024 season.

For running back Saquon Barkley, however, the first thing he is reminding himself as he approaches Week 7 at MetLife Stadium where the Eagles visit the Giants in a big NFC East meeting is not to make the latest installment of the series more than it really is, even with him getting ready to see it from a new and potentially hostile perspective.

“I’m going to treat it the same (way) I always treat it,” Barkley told reporters this week when asked about squaring off with his former team for the first time. “I’ve always had the mindset where every game’s important, every game’s special. You never know when your last game is going to be. But obviously, there’s some history there for sure, especially going back there. It’ll be interesting.”

Barkley, a Giants running back from 2018-2023, is set to make his first return to East Rutherford in the aftermath of his free-agency departure from the organization that drafted him in free agency.

The Eagles lured Barkley to their backyard with a three-year agreement worth $37.75 million that included $26 million in total guarantees, providing the running back the kind of financial security he had been able to find with the Giants.

The former No. 2 overall pick’s move sparked a bevy of different reactions throughout the local market, the majority of which were outraged and incredulous as the player they thought wanted to be a “Giant for life” ran out and switched his uniform to a familiar yet putrid shade of green.

It was a divorce that even ownership thought would never happen for a guy that had stuck through it all, giving New York a leader in the locker room and six seasons that featured 5,211 yards and 35 touchdowns that stands in the top-five career rushing lines for the franchise.

Sunday’s 1 p.m. kickoff sets up an interesting atmosphere as the once Giants hero steps back onto the field he used to call home to compete for the despised visitors. The reception could be mixed, with some fans holding a place in their heart for the back’s selfless rushing efforts and others showering him with boos for committing the biggest cardinal sin in professional sports.

Whichever way it falls, Barkley isn’t going to let that be the main focus of his homecoming. He believes the emotional environment won’t be as scathing as people think, and instead is eager to compete and add a new mark to the history of the most storied division in the league.

“Maybe I’m naive, but I think it’s over. That chapter’s closed,” Barkley told ESPN. “I truly don’t care no more, and I’m pretty sure the fans don’t care no more.

“If you had asked me this question like a year or two ago, I would have never expected to be on this side of it. But I think it’s cool. It’s fun. The NFC East, I remember being in New York, we used to talk about it, how important the NFC East is to NFL history…it’s awesome getting to walk the hallways here and see the history of it, and I would want to be a part of it, especially on this side.”

Despite the obstacles that included multiple knee and ankle injuries that limited three of his years, Barkley continued to revive his game and be the No. 1 weapon in the Giants offense.

His efforts created three 1,000-yard rushing seasons and two with double-digit touchdowns, notably the 2022 season when he ran for a career-high 1,312 yards and 10 scores to help guide New York into the postseason for the first time in six years.

While he became a fan favorite, he also developed close-knit bonds with several of his teammates that still last today, including with quarterback Daniel Jones who credits Barkley for supporting himself on and off the field upon his arrival in the big city.

It made parting ways with those guys difficult, but the ball carrier knew he must do what was best for the longevity of his professional career at a position that’s been slowly losing stability.

He has since found that success in the City of Brotherly Love, leading the Eagles backfield with 91 carries for 482 yards, four touchdowns and a career-high average haul of 5.3 yards that’s tallied 96.4 yards per contest. At the same time, he hasn’t shied from keeping tabs on his old squad and rooting for them behind the scenes.

That is until he finally lines up across from them with the wings in his helmet this weekend. At that point it is “war” as friend and Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence coined it, and while there still won’t be any love lost, it’ll just be about chasing what really matters in between the hash marks.

“I don’t have to prove anything to them. At the end of the day, the most important thing is winning,” Barkley said. “Whether I go and have 300 yards or if I have 10 yards. As long as we win, I don’t have that big of a pride or ego, that if I go out there and ball, I’m not looking over there like, ‘Look at what you guys let go.’ It’s really no hate over there.”

One thing he and the Eagles will have to contend with to achieve that is the strength of that Giants defensive front, a group that was heavily invested into this past summer and leads the NFL in sacks accumulated at 26 overall while allowing just four touchdowns to opponents in the last month of the season.

The head honcho of the defense has been the aforementioned Lawrence, who is currently the second-best gap stuffer in the league with seven sacks and five tackles for loss in six games. His presence, along with others on the defensive line, have spurred the Giants to the sixth-best run stop win rate of 33 percent and have not allowed more than one 100-yard rusher in the same span.

Barkley has recognized the talent that stands within the ranks of the opposing defense on film and knows he has a tough task ahead of him with two of those performances under his belt already.

“They’re a great unit over there. It’s kind of weird watching them from his point of view. Obviously, it all starts with 97 (Dexter Lawrence). I don’t think he gets enough credit. I might be biased because of our friendship, but I think he’s the best (defensive tackle) in the league.

“Seeing Dex and how he operates, and how he can impact the game, that’s definitely a focus of ours. Brian Burns, they paid him a lot of money. He’s playing at a high level. All those guys, they have a really good group, and young guys that they brought in…it’s going to be a fun challenge and I look forward to it.”

There is no doubt that Barkley will continue to be a major talking point until the final whistle on Sunday, but there is so much at stake for these two teams than names on the back of a jersey or a feeling of betrayal from one side to the next.

The Eagles are sitting at 3-2 as injuries and slow offensive starts have impacted some of their early contests. For the Giants, it’s about breaking the curse that has been facing Philadelphia for the past decade and change, as they’ve taken 12 of the last 15 matchups and 3 of the last six at MetLife Stadium.

In a mediocre NFC East where all four teams are two games from each other, the game offers a perfect opportunity to steal a win and stay involved in the race that could come down to records in the divisional battles. It’s what makes this spot so big and the competition so fierce, and that’s how Barkley wants to view it and will everytime he faces off with the team he once thought he was staying with forever.

“This rivalry is so much bigger than what happened in the offseason between me and the Giants, or Hard Knocks. This has been going on for a very long time. I’ve been on the other side. I know how Giants fans feel. I don’t know what the environment is going to be like, but I’m excited.

“As a player, as a competitor, you’ve got to welcome these environments and those moments. Whatever it is, I hope it gives me some extra juice, and that I can go out there and perform.”