Saquon Barkley jumped from the New York Giants to the Philadelphia Eagles on the first day of legal free agent tampering. This didn’t sit well with Giants fans — or with former Giants.
Tiki Barber, a legendary New York running back in his own right, took Barkley’s move to a division rival personally. After learning about the move, Barber took to WFAN radio to discuss the Eagles’ big signing. While discussing the tailback’s goodbye tweet, Barber didn’t hold back.
“He’s dead to us. You’re dead to us, Saquon.”
"You're dead to us"
Tiki reacts to Saquon Barkley reportedly signing with the hated Eagles 😮 pic.twitter.com/fU3hYZaQkV
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) March 11, 2024
Those were harsh words from a former Giant. They didn’t go unnoticed.
@TikiBarber lol yup you’re the prime example of loyalty to a team.. I got the deal I wanted, secured more gm 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 https://t.co/6aKgJquD0F
— Saquon Barkley (@saquon) March 11, 2024
Wooooo. Barkley made sure to tag Barber, then clandestinely brought up Barber’s decision to retire at his peak despite New York’s overtures. The All-Pro back left the game after more than 5,000 rushing yards in his final three seasons and despite a reported two-year, $50 million contract extension from the Giants. That team went on to win Super Bowl XLII the following season.
What’s more, Barkley also made the salient point that New York had several options to keep him with a long term contract — the exact sort of deal the Giants didn’t offer. There was room for the two sides to work out a contract, particularly after Barkley was franchise tagged last spring. It didn’t happen and the logical conclusion was a parting of ways.
That bothered Barber, a player who spent his whole career in New York but left the team in the lurch in his prime, then attempted to unretire elsewhere only to find out no one wanted him. He opted to get spicy with the Giants’ former bellwether back. Barkley got spicy in return — and made Barber look at least a little bit stupid in the process.
