Troy Aikman and Joe Buck mock the Giants over Saquon Barkley fiasco
With Saquon Barkley having a MVP-caliber season with the Eagles, Giants owner John Mara can't be sleeping well.
Giants owner John Mara can’t outrun an infamous clip involving star Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, even during an unrelated Monday Night Football game.
During last night’s Ravens-Chargers game, ESPN announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman took a minute out of the broadcast to gently mock Mara and the Giants over their decision to keep quarterback Daniel Jones and let Barkley go.
“You know, John Mara, if he had a little heartburn when Saquon Barkley left and signed with the Eagles, you can only imagine the heartburn he has watching him do what he’s done,” Aikman said during the fourth quarter of Monday Night Football’s broadcast.
“John Mara’s gotta be so sick of that clip and hearing about, ‘I’m not gonna be able to sleep if he goes to Philly,’” Buck added. “Well, he’s in Philly and he looks like one of the best running backs ever to visit this planet.”
The now-infamous clip Aikman and Buck are referring to came from a new offseason version of HBO’s Hard Knocks that aired in July. Mara and general manager Joe Schoen talked about the Eagles and Chicago Bears having interest when deciding whether to resign Barkley or let him explore free agency.
“I’ll have a tough time sleeping if Saquon goes to Philadelphia, I’ll tell you that,” Mara said. “He’s the most popular player we have by far.”
During Hard Knocks, Mara expressed a desire to keep Barkley, but the Giants ultimately let him walk. Instead, they kept quarterback Daniel Jones, and we know how that played out — the Giants are 2-9, all-but-mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, and Jones was released last week.
“Now they don’t have either,” Aikman said Monday night.
The Giants replaced Barkley with Devin Singletary, signing the former Houston Texans running back to a three-year, $16.5 million deal. But Singletary, who has dealt with a groin injury, hasn’t come close to meeting Barkley’s production, rushing for a total of just 326 yards this season. Backup running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. leads the team with 587 yards rushing, and has gotten a bulk of the carries the past few weeks.
Meanwhile, Barkley is having an MVP-caliber season with the Eagles. After rushing for 255 yards Sunday night against the Los Angeles Rams, Barkley’s not only on pace to set a new Eagles single-season record, he’s on track to set a new NFL single-season rushing record, topping Eric Dickerson’s 2,105 yards rushing in 1984.
“He’s an absolute stud,” Eagles center Cam Jurgens told reporters following Sunday’s game. “I freakin’ love blocking for that guy. I think he loves running for us. You’ve just got to do your own job and just got to get a little bit of a piece on the linebacker, the D-lineman. Just a little bit extra, ‘cause he’s ready to spring any run.”