Saquon Barkley signing with Eagles for $38 million in NFL free agency stunner
Saquon Barkley’s wish to be a Giant for life will not be granted.
Instead, he has flown the coop and is headed to the rival Eagles.
The star running back on Monday, the first day of free agency, agreed to a three-year contract to trade blue for green and move on down the Jersey Turnpike to suit up for the Eagles.
The deal is worth $37.75 million, The Post confirmed, with a guarantee of $26 million.
This will not sit well with all those Giants fans who bought Barkley’s No. 26 jersey and now will see him play for an NFC East opponent they despise.
Barkley posted a brief goodbye on X, writing “Thank you to everyone who has shown me love and support over the past 6 years… forever grateful! Excited for the next chapter.’’ He followed that up with two emojis of bald eagles.
The Giants this time around never made an offer to Barkley.
It was clear their view of what he is worth was not going to translate to what he could get on the open market.
Barkley’s average per year from the Eagles of $12.3 million was significantly higher than what the Giants were willing to spend on a 27-year-old running back who they felt took a step back in 2023.
With $9 million in escalators and incentives, the maximum Barkley can earn in the three years with the Eagles is $46.75 million.
The best offer Barkley received last year from the Giants guaranteed him $23 million on a three-year deal.
He played for the equivalent of the $10.1 franchise tag number in 2023.
Adding that guaranteed money into his deal with the Eagles, Barkley will be guaranteed $36 million over a three-year (2023-25) period.
That represents a win in what is a depressed running back market around the league.
The Giants pivoted and signed running back Devin Singletary, 26, to a three-year deal worth $16.5 million.
Barkley was born in The Bronx but grew up in Coplay, Pa., and starred at Penn State, making this a return to his roots.
And the fact that the Eagles are the Giants’ archrivals makes this move even more painful for one side and exhilarating for the other.
And the fact that Barkley now gets to play against the Giants twice a season makes this even more attractive to a player who will no doubt want to prove to his old team that it gave up on him too soon.
With Barkley, the Giants were regularly beaten and often trounced by the Eagles — he went 3-10 against them the past six seasons.
Now, Barkley will get a chance to see how the other half lives in what has been a one-sided series.
Unlike last year, teams jumped on running backs in the first hour — minutes, really — at the start of the negotiating period.
The Bears secured D’Andre Swift with a three-year deal worth $24 million, including $15.3 million in guaranteed money.
The Titans let Derrick Henry walk and agreed to terms with Tony Pollard on a three-year deal for $24 million.
The $8 million-per-year average is believed to be the neighborhood the Giants wanted to reside in with Barkley but that was not going to be enough to keep him off the open market.
A few hours later, Josh Jacobs — perhaps the top running back on the market — went to the Packers on a four-year deal worth $48 million.
Stay updated with The Post’s coverage on Saquon Barkley joining the Eagles during NFL free agency
- Saquon Barkley signing with Eagles for $38 million in NFL free agency stunner
- Tiki Barber takes dig at Saquon Barkley’s Giants legacy in war of words: ‘Do I need to answer that?’
- Saquon Barkley never had a real Giants chance
- Tiki Barber doesn’t hold back after Saquon signs with Eagles: ‘Dead to us’
Thus ends what must be viewed as an unfulfilling six-year stay for Barkley with the Giants, the team that went against traditional positional value protocols and took him with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
That decision was made by the Dave Gettleman front office. The current front office, led by general manager Joe Schoen, wanted to retain Barkley but refused to extend financially to keep him.
This is a seismic shift for an organization, as Barkley was the face of the franchise.
He was never afforded the luxury of a quality offensive line and rarely was surrounded by a high-quality passing attack, leading to loaded defensive boxes lined up to stop him. Four times in six years, Barkley missed games because of injuries.
Through it all, he was a leader in the locker room, commanding great respect from his teammates, dutifully reciting the company line and insisting that “when’’ and not “if’’ the Giants turned things around he wanted to be there for it.
Off the field, Barkley was a champion in the community and the past two years was the team’s Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee.
With the Giants, Barkley endured five losing seasons in his six years, playing for three different head coaches.
In many ways, his first season was his finest, with 1,307 rushing yards and what turned out as career-highs in rushing average (5.0) and receptions (91). Barkley was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and he was on his way to greatness, it seemed.
That greatness was few and far between and now he will look for that greatness elsewhere.
