Documentary reveals Giants owner John Mara denied Saquon Barkley trade request in summer 2023
Before All-Pro running back Saquon Barkley made the career-changing NFC East swap that made him a 2,000-yard rusher and a Super Bowl champion with the Philadelphia Eagles, he hit free agency.
Several months before he hit free agency, the New York Giants denied a trade request that he made, according to the Martin Scorsese-produced Prime Video documentary "Saquon."
The doc, set for a Thursday release ahead of Giants-Eagles, shows Barkley asking for a trade on July 17, 2023 during a phone call with owner John Mara, per ESPN.
For reference, that was the day the deadline passed for Barkley to sign a long-term deal with the Giants, who had franchise-tagged him in March of that year after his second Pro Bowl nod and after New York won a wild-card playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings during an encouraging 2022 campaign.
Barkley said in the documentary, according to ESPN, that the Giants offered him $11.5 million per season and $23 million guaranteed before the July 2023 deadline.
"I want to run something by you real quick," Barkley said to Mara in the phone conversation revealed in the documentary, according to ESPN. "I've just seen the offer. I just talked it over with my agent. Once again, I appreciate that. But I brought this up to [general manager] Joe [Schoen] a couple times, and he kind of declined me. He said ownership won't allow it.
"It's obviously clear I don't think we're going to get to a place where we can agree on a deal. So would you allow for me permission to seek a trade?"
Mara, whose team selected Barkley with the No. 2 overall pick out of Penn State in the 2018 draft, wasn't interested in that idea.
"That makes no sense for us and, to be honest with you, it's not going to be in your long-term best interest to do that," Mara said in response, according to the documentary, which ESPN cited. "There is no way that I would allow them to trade you at this point. No. I'm just being honest with you."
Mara reportedly added: "You're too valuable to this franchise."
While Barkley declined to sign the franchise tag tender in 2023, he inked a one-year deal that could have been worth slightly more money on July 25.
He rushed for 962 yards in 14 games, dipping back below the 1,000-yard mark after he went for 1,312 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground the season prior.
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The Giants went 6-11 and decided not to tag him the following offseason.
Barkley's production in New York was limited by injury and, for the final two years of his six-season stay, clouded by drama.
He won NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2018 after piling up 2,028 yards from scrimmage, but then he missed at least three games four of the next five seasons. Notably, a torn ACL sidelined him most of the 2020 season.
Although Barkley wanted a full career with the Giants, he didn't feel fully appreciated by the organization. His contract stalemate with the team dragged over practically two years.
In March 2024, Barkley wound up signing a three-year, $37.75 million deal with the Eagles, who guaranteed him $26 million.
After signing with a division rival, Barkley received a text message from Mara.
"I am sick about losing you," Mara's message read, according to Barkley, per ESPN.
"But I understand and respect your decision. We appreciate everything you did for this franchise. You are a class act. Wish you and your family nothing but the best."