Hard Knocks showed that Giants owner John Mara was distraught about Saquon Barkley joining the Eagles

If you’re a New York Giants fan who was upset about Saquon Barkley jumping ship to the NFC East foe Philadelphia Eagles , know you’re not alone. Even the Giants’ brain trust, especially owner John Mara, was crestfallen about the star running back joining a rival in free agency.

The latest episode of Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants features the Giants’ candid discussion about the ramifications of losing Barkley. Once they realized the runner would likely go to Philadelphia instead of return to New York , Mara couldn’t believe it.

Mara started outlining how he’d lose sleep if Barkley really ended up wearing Eagles green because he was easily the Giants’ most popular player at the time.

Oof. What a tough reveal in hindsight:

Once Barkley officially signed on the dotted line with the Eagles, Mara’s reaction was hilariously muted. You could tell the departure clearly hurt him as Giants general manager Joe Schoen downplayed Barkley’s loss:

Maybe Schoen is right in the latter clip. Maybe the Giants will be fine without their star bell-cow tailback. After all, it’s not as if Barkley is a franchise quarterback or anything.

Now, that would’ve hurt much more.

Still, it’s pretty amusing to see this whole sequence play out behind the scenes, showing that prominent New York figures were just as unhappy as its fans about losing their most popular player.