Losing Saquon Barkley was painful for the New York Giants.
So painful that team CEO and president John Mara was not ready to move on from the powerful running back, despite mounting predictions that Barkley would sign elsewhere.
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Stunning behind-the-scenes footage from Hard Knocks revealed that Mara was still clinging to the thought that the Giants could find some way to keep Barkley in New York.
"In a perfect world, I'd still like to have him back," Mara told general manager Joe Schoen.
While the GM appeared to understand that Barkley was already gone and was planning for an alternative solution, Mara was hoping New York would still find a way.
"We're not going to franchise him," Schoen said. "It doesn't make any sense to franchise him.
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"Could we get something in trading? What are we really going to get?"
Mara kept trying to open closed doors.
"Until we can prove we can have a decent offense without him," Mara said.
Fans credited the Giants for sticking to their guns, as painful as it was.
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Barkley eventually moved on, signing with the NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles and joining Jason Kelce's old team.
"Good on John for letting the people he hired make the best decisions for the team without letting emotions get involved," one fan tweeted.
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"This whole scene made my stomach turn," a second fan posted.
"Giants made the mistake by giving Daniel Jones all of that money," a third fan wrote. "Two years ago, when the Giants made the playoffs, Saquon Barkley was the offense. Barkley deserved a contract extension from the Giants."
Hard Knocks also revealed that the Giants backed Jones as their 2024 QB in a very odd way, acknowledging that not even Patrick Mahomes could win with New York's offense.
“(Against) Miami, we’ve got three f****** practice squad guys playing for us,” Schoen said. “Nobody could f****** — you could have Pat Mahomes and he can’t f****** win behind that.”
Mara appeared to be more concerned with giving up Barkley, who made two Pro Bowls, won Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2018, and rushed for 5,211 yards with 47 total touchdowns in six seasons as a Giant
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"Now he’s going to run all over them twice a year," a fan posted. "Brutal."
He's also teammates with Jalen Hurts and could have a monster year while playing in the same division as the Giants.