Dexter Lawrence won’t be showing any mercy to Saquon Barkley, star Eagles running back, when they collide Sunday at 1 at MetLife Stadium. There are certain to be Giants fans who won’t either.
“I think he did a lot of good for this organization, but we got some tough fans and they’re gonna bring him in however they feel it’s right by them,” Lawrence said. “I appreciate what he did for this organization and who he was as a teammate and a person to me, most importantly.
“But Sunday is war and he knows that.”
He knows that because he was at Lawrence’s wedding in June.
“I told him that whenever we play it’s war, and he knows that,” Lawrence said.
There were some Giants fans who called him “Snaquon” Barkley when he flew the coop to land with the hated Eagles. There were some who called him traitor.
“At the end of the day, I’m selfish to want to keep him, but at the end of the day, I think he does what is best for himself and that’s just how it goes,” Lawrence said.
“I don’t understand why it’s a big deal to go make himself happy, or do what makes himself happy. At the end of the day, we’re human, and we’re people, and he did what’s best for him, and I’m gonna be happy for him regardless of that. He just knows that whenever he plays us, it’s war. That’s on the field. No bad blood between us … we gotta make choices in life, just like if you got a raise, you would go somewhere to get your raise, you know?”
Barkley’s raise leaped from $10.1 million in his final season as a Giant to his three-year, $37.75M deal with $26M guaranteed.
“I’m not too big on the name-calling and the dishing and the bashing, ’cause I would say put yourself in his shoes,” Adoree’ Jackson told The Post. “I don’t feel like there should be any bad blood. At the end of the day, it’s a business.”
Bobby Okereke, who played last season with Barkley, was asked about the shrill Snaquon and traitor cries.
“I don’t think that’s a fair assessment,” Okereke told The Post. “Obviously it’s a game we all love, a game fans are passionate about. But this is a way that we feed our families in our livelihoods. So anytime a player makes a decision that they feel is in the best interest for them and their family, I’m in full support of that.”
Barkley was beloved in the Giants locker room.
“Obviously would love to have him on my team selfishly just as a player, but happy for him in getting his payday,” Micah McFadden said
The sack-happy Giants defense will be wary of Barkley’s contact balance and explosiveness … and possibly a raging desire to remind GM Joe Schoen what he will be missing.
“I think we gotta stop Saquon from getting going,” Lawrence said. “We gotta clog the holes, we gotta get a lot of guys on him, a lot of bodies on him. He’s good at finding the second lane, third lane type of thing, so we gotta stop his feet before he gets going ’cause then he’s explosive. Elite back.”
John Mara was sorry to see Barkley go, especially to that team. Daniel Jones was sorry to see Barkley go. Barkley made Jones better. He made the Giants better.
He couldn’t make the Giants good enough often enough:
One playoff win in six seasons.
New York was the wrong place at the wrong time for him at the end.
He is the missing piece for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
He wasn’t the missing piece for the Giants.
He was a gold-plated hood ornament on a creaking jalopy.
It was the right move for the Eagles and it was the right move for the Giants.
It is too premature to reach the conclusion that rookie Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary will adequately replace Barkley at a much cheaper cost.
“Great teammate, great friend,” Jones said. “Obviously a really good player. Spent a lot of time together on and off the field, but someone who helped me out a ton as I was getting into the league and through my first few years, so I have a ton of respect and appreciation for who he is as a person.”
Jones smiled when asked how he thinks Barkley will be received by Giants fans.
“If I had to guess, probably not warmly,” he said, and chuckled. “Competitive game, it’s Eagles versus Giants, so big divisional game. There’s a lot going on outside of Saquon Barkley being back.”
A war.
