Giants' Saquon Barkley regrets another sign massive changes are needed

The New York Giants have had a rough season. They've gone 3-13, are starting their third quarterback, and have had the indignity of watching former running back Saquon Barkley continue to be one of the best running backs in football after leaving to join the Philadelphia Eagles in the offseason. But if their interviews on Thursday are anything to go by, their regrets in letting Barkley go extend well beyond the playing field.

Quarterback Tommy DeVito said the team underestimated how much Barkley would be missed as a leader in the locker room, along with wideout Sterling Shepard.

"Two guys that were among the most vocal leaders on the offense, guys that have played a ton. Those two guys meant a tremendous amount, but obviously Saquon is my guy," DeVito said, per Jordan Ranaan of ESPN. "He kind of helped bring me into this whole role and how everything went down. He was kind of my rock through it all. To see him go and how it went down, it was tough. Obviously, it's a business as well."

Tight end Daniel Bellinger echoed those sentiments.

"For me the biggest part of losing Saquon was the locker room aspect," Bellinger said. "Just having him as a leader and a guy that when there were times like, what do we do, he would be like 'Go play!'

And safety Dane Belton noted that Barkley's impact wasn't limited to just offensive players.

"The whole locker room," Belton said. "It wasn't just the offense as far as the leadership perspective. You definitely lose that. And you look at the team, we're super young. To that, it can't help to lose a great leader like that. Definitely think it was a tough loss."

To which, every person who isn't a member of the Giants' front office is saying "no shit."

Everyone knew that letting Barkley walk was a bad idea for New York. Everyone knew the impact he had on the field, and his impact in the locker room wasn't exactly top secret classified intel. But we've all seen the video of the decision-making process of letting the star running back leave, and at no point does GM Joe Schoen seem to really consider the impact that letting Barkley leave would have on his organization.

Every team makes mistakes in free agency. They sign guys who don't work out, they let guys walk who wind up being great in other places. But this wasn't a gamble that had a 50-50 chance of blowing up in their face; everyone knew this was a bad idea.

Except, apparently, the people making the decisions. Which should have Giants owner John Mara very, very concerned. This was already one of the least talented rosters in the NFL, and they've looked worse this season than they did last. Schoen has done nothing to prove himself a capable or competent NFL GM so far, and the judgment he showed in letting Barkley walk was bad enough to practically be disqualifying on its own.

The Giants need to make massive changes to their organization, and they need to do it sooner than later. The longer it takes, the more waiting and seeing they do, the harder it's going to be to get this team back to anything approaching contention again. They have to fix these problems, and they start at the top of the chart of football decision-makers.

Otherwise, it could be a long, long time before we see Giants blue back in the Super Bowl.

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Giants' Saquon Barkley regrets another sign massive changes are needed in the organization

By Sam Westmoreland | Jan 2, 2025