Saquon Barkley’s New York Giants tenure could officially come to a close as soon as Wednesday when the NFL’s new league year begins.
The 27-year-old star running back is officially a free agent after he and the Giants were unable to come to terms on a long-term deal over the last two offseasons, which included a franchise tag last year and meetings with his representation at the NFL Combine in late February, early March.
Teams are understandably beginning to circle, and two strongly interested suitors appear to be the Philadelphia Eagles and Houston Texans, according to ESPN’s Dianna Russini on Monday.
Both teams were seen as logical landing spots for Barkley, who put together a strong season with 1,242 yards from scrimmage and 10 total touchdowns.
According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 in Houston, Barkley has tabbed the Texans as his “top potential destination,” and has been in touch with their star quarterback CJ Stroud, who put together a remarkable rookie campaign in helping the AFC South team get to the playoffs.
Stroud is flanked by two impressive young receivers in Nico Collins and Tank Dell. The addition of Barkley would help a burgeoning offense become lethal — at least on paper.
If one were to ask a Giants fan where they would want to see Barkley go, Houston would be the overwhelming response compared to Philadelphia as the possibility of the former No. 2 jumping to a division rival is fuel for nightmares.
The Eagles have never signed a free-agent running back to a multi-year deal under general manager Howie Roseman and that’s exactly what Barkley is looking for. So something would have to give there to make it work.
But there certainly seems to be an awful lot of smoke resonating from Philadelphia about potentially poaching the Giants’ star man, who often said he wanted to remain in New York for life. SNY’s Connor Hughes also reported on Monday that the Eagles will be “aggressively” pursuing Barkley.
