Giants exec risked his job ignoring owner's opinion on Saquon Barkley during pivotal contract negotiations

The New York Giants' saga with Saquon Barkley was well-documented. The star running back signed with the Philadelphia Eagles earlier in this offseason.

Now, we know a bit more about the situation leading up to the final negotiations for Barkley.

Joe Schoen reportedly ignored John Mara's opinion on signing Saquon Barkley

According to Ryan Dunleavy , the Giants GM was made aware of the exact numbers for a contract to keep the star running back.

Co-owner John Mara was on board with the potential deal for Barkley. Mara was even more interested in bringing Barkley back when he found out that they had to beat out the Eagles for the playmaker. That being said, Mara gave Schoen the power to allow Barkley to walk - while knowing the figure. He did exactly that.

Dunleavy says that no offer was made to Saquon after July 2023 . The Giants' best offer (in July 2023) included about $22M guaranteed for Barkley. The Eagles paid $26M in guaranteed money.

Fans may be surprised at the reserve from Schoen. many believed that New York tried its best to bring back Barkley, but ultimately, their general manager made the choice to move on from him.

After the Barkley debacle, the Giants also reportedly considered signing Austin Ekeler as their new running back.

According to Hard Knocks , New York also considered signing Joe Mixon, Zack Moss, and Tony Pollard before choosing to add veteran Devin Singletary.

The former Pro Bowler signed with the Washington Commanders during free agency, instead, and New York added Singletary to be their starting RB.

This reveal regarding the Giants front office strategy for bringing back (or rather not) Barkley certainly means that they had an opportunity. They chose a different route. Now, they have to face the Pro Bowl running back twice a season in the NFC East.

Related: Giants reportedly targeted former Pro Bowl running back to replace Saquon Barkley