One of the biggest developments in the NFC East this offseason was running back Saquon Barkley’s decision to leave the Giants for the Eagles as a free agent.
Barkley’s departure didn’t come out of left field as he and the Giants were not able to work out a long-term deal over successive offseasons, but having him go to Philly has provided some fresh fodder for the longtime rivals. Giants edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux said on The Rich Eisen Show last week that he isn’t feeling any extra pain about seeing Barkley in Eagles colors.
“It’s a business at the end of the day, I never really took it hard,” Thibodeaux said. “I reached out to him. This is a not-for-long league, so you’ve got to get paid when you can. And you can’t miss out on any dollars. We’ve seen it before with past contracts and past players, so I am happy he was able to get the contract he was seeking.”
Barkley said that the Giants never offered him a chance to return, although a clip from the upcoming Hard Knocks series about the Giants offseason suggests that might not be entirely true. In any case, Eisen asked Thibodeaux about how not signing Barkley played in the Giants locker room.
Thibodeaux said there are hard decisions to make when “you have the team’s greater good in mind” and acknowledged there may be a point when it’s not in “the best interest of the team’s long-term goals” for Thibodeaux to remain on the roster. That moment doesn’t feel close at hand, but the 2022 first-round pick has identified a fact of life as a professional athlete.