Having to watch Saquon Barkley dominate for the Philadelphia Eagles has been a season’s worth of purgatory for the New York Giants, but former quarterback Daniel Jones and wide receiver Sterling Shepard were delighted to see their ex-teammate run his way to the NFC Championship Game.
Jones and Shepard were guests of Barkley’s and witnessed the three-time Pro Bowl running back rush for 205 yards and a pair of long scores to help the Eagles beat the Los Angeles Rams 28-22 in the Divisional Playoffs on Sunday, January 19.
Barkley’s performance had Jones and Shepard “cheering on their close friend,” according to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan.
Irony abounds here, mostly because the Giants decided to let Barkley test free agency because of their large investment in Jones. An investment that backfired spectacularly when Jones was released mid-season, while Barkley led the NFL with 2,005 yards rushing for Big Blue’s biggest rival.
Seeing Barkley take his regular-season form into the playoffs is another painful reminder about how wrong the Giants got things in the offseason. Yet, the Eagles winning with a player the Giants selected second overall in the 2018 NFL draft isn’t the only reason the NFC Championship Game will be even more traumatic viewing.
Not when another NFC East rival, the Washington Commanders, will also contest the conference title. The Commanders are in the big game largely thanks to a rookie quarterback Giants head coach Brian Daboll was open to drafting.
Giants Still Haunted by Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley Decision
General manager Joe Schoen was the driving force behind the Giants handing Jones a contract worth $160 million in 2023. Schoen was also pulling the strings when the Giants twice opted not to pay Barkley, notably in 2024 when he was allowed to test the market.
The contrasting outcomes of both decisions could not have gone worse for the Giants. Not when Jones didn’t survive this season, but Barkley took his game to a new level in Philadelphia.
Giants co-owner and team president John Mara had his reservations about letting Barkley go, so the 70-year-old has felt the pain more than most. A fact summed up by this image from Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News.
Mara should still feel aggrieved after Barkley gashed the Rams for a 62-yard touchdown run in the first quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. As NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger pointed out, that score went with the touchdowns of 70 and 72 yards Barkley put on the Rams in L.A. when the two teams met in the regular season back in Week 12.
Baldinger’s words “so far’ proved an ominous warning the Rams didn’t heed. Not when Barkley went in from 78 yards to seal passage to the penultimate game of the season.
Plays like these show the folly in Schoen’s thinking. He chose a quarterback over a running back because of positional value, and while that was sound strategy on the surface, Schoen forgot one important thing.
Namely, how Barkely isn’t just any running back. He’s arguably the best all-rounder in football. A special playmaker who can have a transformative impact on a franchise.
The Giants have been searching in vain for one of those at quarterback. Jones wasn’t it, but the Giants might have found one if Daboll had gotten his way last offseason.
Jayden Daniels Another Misstep by Giants
The Giants were always a long-shot to draft Jayden Daniels when the Commanders owned the second pick, but Daboll certainly did his research on the Heisman Trophy winner. Daboll also made it clear he would take Daniels if given the chance.
That chance never materialised, in part because the Giants never made a genuine effort to trade up. Instead, they’ve had to sit back and watch Daniels transform the Commanders from 4-13 to one game away from the Super Bowl.
The Commanders are a case study for how quickly the right QB can revive the fortunes of a team. It’s what Schoen and Daboll desperately need to find if they’re going to keep their jobs after two-straight losing seasons.
Mara surprisingly retained both, but he’s already been blunt about lacking patience. A short leash is understandable after Mara has watched Schoen botch several personnel decisions, mistakes summed up by this season’s playoff bracket.
Barkley is in the Championship Game, but Jones was also active for the postseason when the Minnesota Vikings qualified for the Wild-Card Round. Jones was one and done, like Shepard with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but too many former Giants are flourishing away from the Schoen and Daboll regime.
That’s nothing to cheer about.
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