New Eagles running back Saquon Barkley joined Jason and Travis Kelce on their New Heights podcast and addressed Tiki Barber. The former New York Giants running back who is now an afternoon drive host on WFAN's Evan Tiki, made headlines with his comments immediately following Saquon Barkley's departure from the Giants to their bitter rival Philidelphia.
“He’s dead to us now. You’re dead to us. Good luck, you’re dead to me.”
He then said. “The fact that Saquon would even contemplate going to play for that team in Philadelphia is insulting to his Giant history and legacy. Go to Baltimore, go to Houston, go to LA Chargers. Do not go to the Philadelphia Eagles, that appreciate and respect and reverence we have for you, Saquon, will be lost. Will be gone.”
Barkley immediately responded on Twitter/X, saying, ”
“@TikiBarber lol yup you're the prime example of loyalty to a team…I got the deal I wanted, secured more gm (guaranteed money) which wasn't given to me before… so if fans are gonna hate me for that so be it! But I never turned my back on my teammates and always had theirs.”
After Barkley's initial response on Twitter, Barber addressed his comments further on Evan Tiki, saying, “I’ve been retired for 17 years, 18 years. I am now in the media. “The fact that my emotional reaction responding to you going to the Philadelphia Eagles, which is, by the way, the voice of a lot of Giants fans, I’d say the majority of Giants fans, and you’re going to come back and talk about something from 17 years ago that you don’t even understand or are misrepresenting? That’s fine, be that way then. I like Saquon Barkley. By the way, saying dead to me was basically tongue in cheek, but it is what it is. Get offended.”
He also went on the nationally syndicated morning show The Dan Patrick Show and echoed the same sentiments,
“Our job is to entertain, to inform, and sometimes get a little bit visceral because that's how the fan is. They want to express themselves but they don't often get a chance to call in and talk about it, so we do it for them. And look, that's how Giants fans were feeling about Saquon Barkley. I just happened to be the messenger that got the shrapnel from Saquon when he decided to respond to the one-day story.”
Saquon shared his thoughts on the RB market, and the reactions to him signing with Philly pic.twitter.com/lsvMetu0rI
— New Heights (@newheightshow) March 27, 2024
According to Barkley's comments on New Heights, he believed that Barber ultimately “fed into the BS”.
“Maybe use that time to show, ‘Maybe this is why Saquon is going to Philly’ … the business side of it, use that to show, I’m not saying you got to have loyalty to me because I don’t care for that, to be honest, but you are an ex-NFL player, an ex-NFL athlete, don’t feed into the B.S., let fans do that, they’re supposed to do that, they’re emotional.”
Barkley also says that he understands why fans were mad. “Honestly, if fans wouldn’t be mad that I went from New York to Philly, that means I did nothing when I was in New York, whether on the field or off the field, that means I made an impact at some point, that’s the reason why fans were so torn apart about it. I see my jersey getting burned, my family’s getting threats, my house, I see that part of it,” Barkley said.
Barkley signed a three-year contract with the Eagles worth $37.75 million, with $26 million guaranteed, per Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports. During the 2023 offseason, Barkley nearly secured a long-term deal with the Giants but missed out by a few million dollars, resulting in him playing on the franchise tag last season. This year, there were no contract talks with the Giants. They chose to let Barkley test the market and assess his value, which eventually led to him joining their NFC rival.
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