“You’re dead to us”, Says ex-New York Giants running back Tiki Barber. “Good luck, you’re dead to me.” This is what Tiki Barber had to say about Saquon Barkley taking a three-year, $37.75 million deal with the division rival Philadelphia Eagles on Monday, March 11. The contract could be worth up to $46.75 million, which is great money for a running back in today’s market.
“You’re the prime example of loyalty to a team…” Barkley says in reaction to Barber’s comment. “I got the deal I wanted, secured more gm (guaranteed money) which wasn’t given to me before. So if fans are gonna hate me for that so be it! But I never turned my back on my teammates and always had theirs.”
Barkley was reasonably focused on getting the guaranteed money he believed he was worth. According to the Giantswire, The Giants never made an offer to Saquon this offseason. The fans are allowed to be upset to see him go to a rival, but to see a Giants alumni such as Tiki Barber say something so distasteful is quite a surprise. It seems that the Giants didn’t value Barkley the way other teams in the league did, so Barkley did what he thought was best for himself and took his guaranteed bag.
“The Giants didn’t offer him a contract, how are they gonna be salty?” Said proud Eagles fan and student Nick Azevedo.
It would appear that what fans forget at the end of the day is that the NFL is a business and these players are human beings who have a choice to make between taking more money with a certain team or proving their loyalty by taking a pay cut. If you were offered more money to do the same job at a different location, you’re telling me you wouldn’t take that opportunity. The Giants had every chance to offer Saquon a bigger contract and refused to do so, which is what led to this decision.
Former Raiders running back Josh Jacobs, who recently signed with the Greenbay Packers in free agency chimed in on the situation. “When a player leaves it’s always the player being unloyal. At what point do we ask the franchises for that same loyalty?”
Jacobs led the league in rushing in 2022 and earned first-team All-Pro honors. Instead of signing Jacobs to a long-term deal in the 2023 offseason, the Raiders placed a franchise tag on him. Jacobs refused the franchise tag worth $10.1 million and instead agreed to a one-year deal worth almost $12 million. This year, the Packers offered him a 4 year, $48 million deal. This proves his point perfectly that if the franchise you play for isn’t recognizing your worth but another franchise does, why wouldn’t you take the extra money that you believe you’ve earned?
While it is understandable for Tiki Barber to have a lot of passion for the New York Giants and their fanbase, what he said to Saquon took it a bit too far. As a player, Barber should understand that there are normally two sides to the story when a player chooses to sign with a different team. Saquon did the right thing betting on himself and making more money doing so elsewhere.
