The Eagles are no strangers to signing talent away from any of their division rivals. While little to none have panned out in their favor recently, Saquon Barkley comes with the utmost expectations. A generational talent and one of the many faces of the NFL, Barkley has been the topic of conversation since the moment he signed with Philadelphia.
From being scorned by Giants fans and a former Giants legend to being shown on Hard Knocks as a player who truly valued themselves. It was more about the respect than it was about the money for Saquon who may have felt unwanted by Joe Schoen and the new Giants regime.
About how his departure from the Giants was portrayed on Hard Knocks, Barkley mentioned, “I think it was a unique way to see what free agency is like in a building in the NFL for fans.” Barkley continued on by saying, “I got to see a little bit before when it all came out. But it was unique, it was different seeing it from that point of view.”
While the Eagles RB was unaware of his conversation with Giants GM Joe Schoen being recorded for the show, he still respected the way things were put together on the show.
“At the end of the day, they have control of the edits and they could have painted me to look really bad and they kind of gave the truth,” Saquon describing how he was portrayed on the HBO series.
But as unique as the situation was with Barkley’s ending with the Giants being recorded for the world to see, the Eagles running back is ready to put that part of his career behind him. “That’s why I said it was a unique way for fans to see it from that viewpoint. But Hard Knocks, was unique but that’s in the past, I lived it, I got to watch it and now I’m ready to focus on what matters most and that’s being here with my teammates and getting better each day.”
A new beginning with the Eagles
While Hard Knocks has been a great topic of conversation for football fans who feel starved from any action on or off the field at this point, Barkley seems to be prepared to move on from what happened so that he can focus on what’s happening now.
Saquon has gone from a rebuilding team to a contender in the blink of an eye. And not just any contender but one that’s uniquely built with a star-studded group of players on offense. His being surrounded by this group has yet to hit him at this point.
“It still doesn’t feel real when I’m in that offensive huddle, seeing all those guys,” Saquon mentioned.
Now that things are starting to settle down for him in Philadelphia. Barkley truly just wants to move on from what was and focus on what is. His current team has a path to win it all while his old team is still trying to put together a foundation to build on.
Barkley mentioned how he never really paid much attention to the idea of signing with a rival of his past team. His main goal was finding a geographically convenient team that could also provide him with a way to build out his legacy for the next half of his career.
There’s no question that the Eagles are the perfect place for Barkley. Just as he mentioned, Barkley’s focus is solely on his new team, and just wants to move on from the Hard Knocks gossip and everything surrounding the topic of his old team
Barkley stated, “now, I’m ready to focus on what matters most and that’s being here with my teammates and getting better each day.” Eagles fans are just as ready as the ovation from training camp shocked and awed the former first-round pick. Fortunately for him and the Eagles, the best has yet to come.
AP Photo/Chris Szagola
