Donovan McNabb weighs in on Giants’ ‘big’ Saquon Barkley mistake, Jalen Hurts skipping White House

I’ll have a tough time sleeping if Saquon goes to Philadelphia, I’ll tell you that.

John Mara’s famous line from the third episode of Hard Knocks still haunts him. Of course, the former New York Giants running back signed a three-year contract with the Eagles and put up a historic season. He became the ninth player ever to log 2,000 rushing yards in a season and became a Super Bowl champion.

Soon after Barkley joined the Eagles, it was clear to fans — and players around the league — that the Giants had made a mistake. Even former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb recognized the glaring error from the Giants franchise.

“They made a really big mistake,” McNabb said in an interview with Fox News. “And I think it’s going to cost them a little bit because of the decision of not pretty much trading Saquon and getting something back from him, and then not [finding a way to draft] Jayden Daniels, that kind of just added onto everything that happened. And being on HBO’s Hard Knocks, that just piled on. That’s why we just say, ‘Hey, we appreciate you and good luck to you guys going forward.’”

» READ MORE: Ex-Eagle C.J. Gardner-Johnson on trade to Texans: ‘It wasn’t about the money’

After a 14-3 record and Super Bowl win, the Eagles showered in confetti at Caesars Superdome as the Giants watched from their television screens at home. They finished last in the NFC East with a 3-14 record.

Despite the Giants’ failures this season, McNabb admitted the Eagles franchise made a few mistakes of its own in the past — including the decision to trade McNabb and fire former Eagles head coach Andy Reid.

“There’s a couple mistakes they made,” McNabb said. “I was first and then Andy followed. But you know that’s the thing, when you make that decision, or whoever made that decision, now you sit back and start to watch and you see how his career has gotten to another level.”

During McNabb’s tenure in Philadelphia, he led the Eagles to eight playoff appearances, five straight from 2000-04, five division titles, nine postseason wins and, eventually, the Super Bowl in the 2004 season. He was also named NFC Player of the Year that season.

McNabb played his entire Eagles career under Reid before he was traded to Washington in 2010 after a playoff loss to the Cowboys the year before. Two years later, Reid was fired as the head coach. To McNabb, this was a bigger mistake than the Giants losing Barkley.

“To be honest with you, I’ll say the Eagles losing Andy [is the bigger mistake],” McNabb said. “Because obviously with Saquon, it’s newer, it’s fresh. But I go back years ago to the success that we had with Andy. I think after I left, things kind of went up and down. It wasn’t as consistent as it was and he was to blame for it. If you look at what Andy has done now and what possibly he could have done if he was still in Philadelphia, I’d think that Andy would rank first in that decision they made.”

Reid led the Eagles to a 130-93 record with a 10-9 record in the playoffs. Despite never winning a Super Bowl in Philly, the coach has won three titles with the Chiefs.

After the Eagles put an end to the Chiefs’ plans to three-peat, the players had the opportunity to visit the White House. Big Dom DiSandro could be seen in the front row alongside players such as Cooper DeJean and Saquon Barkley. But one person wasn’t seen in the crowd: Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts.

“I have no problem with it at all,” McNabb said. “Don’t have a problem with it and I agree. I totally agree with him and the decision that he made. It’s a grown-man decision and he stuck with it. And for him, his focus again is to get himself ready to possibly get back to another Super Bowl and hopefully have the same outcome.

“You don’t harp on anybody else’s decision, it’s a personal decision that he made, for both Jalen and Saquon. And again, after you do your visit, or whatever it may be, you get right back to focusing on the task at hand and seeing if, you know, again, you can have that opportunity to be invited back to the White House.”