Tiki Barber doesn’t know if Saquon Barkley — the running back he called “dead to me” in March for his free agency decision — will get booed Sunday when the Eagles face the Giants for the first time since he left.
But if that ends up being the case, Barber believes it’ll be a “vocal minority” and that Giants fans are booing the Eagles — the other team in the NFC East rivalry — more than Barkley himself.
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” Barber said of Barkley getting booed, told CBS Sports. “And if it does, it’s probably gonna be a vocal minority. I think a lot of people appreciate what Saquon did as a player for the Giants, but there’s a lot of people that hate to see him in that uniform.
“And if he gets booed, it’s because they are booing the uniform. They aren’t booing him. He’s a great kid. We all know that. They are booing the uniform he currently wears.”
Barkley, who spent the first six years of his career with the Giants, fractured his legacy with a portion of the fanbase when he signed a three-year, $37.75 million deal with the Eagles in free agency.
Negotiations with the Giants dated back to the 2023 season when the team franchise tagged him and he played the year on a one-year deal.
Then, the back-and-forth that followed ahead of free agency was captured in “Hard Knocks,” including owner John Mara saying he’d have a “tough time sleeping” if Barkley bolted for the Eagles.
But that’s exactly what happened on the opening day of free agency — Barber called it “his prerogative to do it,” according to CBS Sports — with his Philadelphia decision, though Barkley told ESPN this week that while it might be a bit “naive,” he doesn’t necessarily expect to get booed when he returns to face the Giants.
“He’s now the rival that you see twice a year and not because he’s 31 years old and on the downside of his career,” Barber said, while acknowledging that Giants fans hated his free agency decision. “He’s 27 and in his prime. It hurts because you know, he’s gonna kill us every single time he comes back to play us.”
Barkley has collected over 100 yards from scrimmage in four of his five games with the Eagles, emerging as a bright spot on an offense still struggling to find consistency overall.
He finished with 147 rushing yards during their Week 3 win against the Saints, two weeks after a 109-yard, three-touchdown performance in his Eagles debut.
