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Jordan Raanan
A new documentary about Saquon Barkley revealed the running back requested a trade from the New York Giants during a phone call with owner John Mara in the summer of 2023.
The Prime Video documentary “Saquon,” which was produced by Martin Scorsese and will be released Thursday before the Giants host the Philadelphia Eagles, shows Barkley asking for the trade on July 17, 2023 — the day the deadline passed for him to sign a long-term deal after the Giants had placed the franchise tag on Barkley several months earlier.
The All-Pro running back played for the Giants during the 2023 season. He signed with the Eagles as a free agent the following year and led them to a Super Bowl title in his first season with the Giants’ division rival — a decision that left Mara “sick.”
The lengthy negotiations, spanning almost two years, prompted the trade request.
“I want to run something by you real quick,” Barkley said in the phone conversation shown in the documentary. “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 me for permission to seek a trade?”
Barkley was drafted No. 2 overall by the Giants in the 2018 NFL draft. He made the Pro Bowl and was Offensive Rookie of the Year in his first season. The next few years were littered with injuries and minimal team success.
Still, the Giants had no intention of trading their best offensive player who they had on the franchise tag, especially after they had just won a playoff game and Barkley was coming off a Pro Bowl season.
“Nah, Saquon, I’m not going to do that,” Mara responded to the trade request. “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. There is no way that I would allow them to trade you at this point. No. I’m just being honest with you.”
“OK, I appreciate that,” Barkley said.
“You’re too valuable to this franchise,” Mara added.
The documentary shows how the negotiations took their toll on Barkley.
But even during a 2022 season where he rushed for 1,312 yards — the second-highest total of his career — it was weighing on Barkley’s mind.
“They really don’t appreciate me, to be completely honest,” Barkley said after 35 carries in a win over the Houston Texans.
He later added: “Every time I talk about this s—, my blood just boils. It’s the principle. That’s all it is. It’s just the principle. I would’ve signed for $10 million, $11 million if they had operated a whole different way.”
Barkley played out the 2023 season and rushed for 962 yards in 14 games as the Giants went 6-11. They declined to use the franchise tag for a second consecutive year that offseason.
Barkley rushed for 2,005 yards in his first season with the Eagles, which ended with him winning the Super Bowl and being named NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
The star running back revealed in the documentary that he was offered $11.5 million per season and $23 million guaranteed in a deal from the Giants before the July 2023 deadline. His deal with the Eagles is for $37 million over three seasons that included $26 million guaranteed.
After signing with the Eagles, Barkley received a text message from Mara.
“I am sick about losing you,” Mara’s message read, according to Barkley. “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.”
The documentary, shot over five years, began when Barkley tore the ACL in his right knee early in the 2020 season and runs through this past summer, after the Super Bowl victory. It shows Barkley’s struggles through self-made video diaries how he grinded his way back to becoming one of the best players in the league all while growing into fatherhood.
