There aren’t many fans allowed on the sideline during a typical Eagles training camp practice but those in attendance for Day 1 on Wednesday were pretty excited to see Saquon Barkley.
In fact, they cheered loudly every time he touched the football.
“Yeah, I definitely heard it,” Barkley said with a smile.
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Barkley is 27 now and after six years of playing for the New York Giants, the team that drafted him No. 2 overall back in 2018, he has moved his life and career a bit south after signing a three-year deal with the Eagles this offseason.
A player changing teams in free agency isn’t rare. Not at all.
But changing teams in free agency and then watching it play out again on national television is.
And that’s what Barkley went through over the last few weeks as HBO chronicled the Giants’ offseason and the organization’s decision to let Barkley test his market and then ultimately leave for a division rival.
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“I think it was a unique way to see how free agency is like in a building in the NFL for fans,” Barkley said. “I got to see a little bit prior to when it all came out. But it was unique, it was different seeing it from that point of view.”
Barkley’s departure from the Giants was one of the major storylines on this season of Hard Knocks, even though he said the drama wasn’t as intense living through it.
One of the most memorable scenes from the entire summer was when Giants general manager Joe Schoen spoke with Barkley on the phone directly to tell him that the Giants were going to let him test free agency.
It’s a conversation that Barkley said on Wednesday he didn’t know was being recorded. But he also wasn’t shocked when he learned about it on a trailer for the show.
“At the end of the day, they have control of the edits and they could have painted me to look really bad and they kind of gave the truth,” Barkley said. “That’s why I said it was a unique way for fans to see it from that viewpoint. But Hard Knocks, that was unique but that’s in the past, I lived it, I got to watch it and now I’m ready to focus on what matters most and that’s being here with my teammates and getting better each day.”
At a certain point during Barkley’s press conference on Wednesday, the two-time Pro Bowler clearly grew a little weary of answering questions about Hard Knocks and his end with the Giants.
A topic he was more excited to talk about? His fresh beginning with the Eagles.
Barkley said he felt like a rookie again on Wednesday for his first training camp practice at the NovaCare Complex. He’s getting used to the fans, the layout of the fields and where the families of players congregate during these practices.
He’s also getting used to seeing a ton of talent in the huddle with him.
“It still doesn’t feel real when I’m in that offensive huddle, seeing all those guys,” Barkley said. “We have Pro Bowlers, All-Pros at every position to be completely honest. So I’m really excited.”
That is something Barkley just didn’t have with the Giants. In fact, he played with just one other Pro Bowler on offense in New York, when Evan Engram made the NFC squad in 2020.
For so many years, Barkley was the focal point of the Giants offense. That won’t be the case — at least not every week — with the Eagles. That’s OK. He says he’s completely bought in.
“I know this season there might be games where they’re going to hand the ball off to 2-6 and I’ve got to try to take over a game,” Barkley said. “There might be games where I’ve got to sit back and watch A.J. Brown do what he do or DeVonta Smith. Whatever it takes. That’s what it is. That’s what I’m about. I’m buying in. Whatever it takes to win games, that’s what I’m willing to do.”
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