If this really is goodbye, then he should leave the field exhausted, with the fans wanting more, maybe chanting for him to stay. It wouldn’t exactly be the mic drop that, say, Michael Strahan got as a Giant, lifting a Lombardi Trophy over his head in his final gesture in Blue.
But for Saquon Barkley, an old-school, old-time game like the ones he’s been able to deliver at his best, that would be a hell of a note to leave the stage on.
“My mind is on the Eagles, so there is discussions and all that, that happen at the end of the season, those will all take place at the appropriate time,” was the way Brian Daboll danced around the question Friday, the question of whether he had given any thought that might indeed be Barkley’s final game in the Big Blue backfield.
But then, asked if he expected to give the running back a full workload, the Giants’ coach said, “Yeah.”
It would be wise, of course. Given that the weather is expected to be nasty much of the day, it would be prudent for the Giants to keep it out of the air as much as possible, and given that Barkley is still their most dangerous weapon, it would be equally sensible to get it into his hands as much as possible.
Barkley wasn’t quite as reticent as his coach. Early in the week, asked about the possibility of this ring it got him around here, he said: “Obviously, that’s a possibility. A lot of that’s out of my control. So, for me, I kind of just try to keep the main thing, the main thing. Like I said, the biggest thing is this locker room, and this team is going to be completely different next year.
“So, cherish the moments and go out there and try to go off on a high note.”
It’s been a strange trip for Barkley right from the start. There was always a risk attached to Dave Gettleman taking him second in the 2018 draft, simply because it was a quarterback-rich draft and the Giants had already tipped their hand that they would be in need of a new quarterback with the book slowly closing on Eli Manning.
That said, unless the Giants intended to buck prevailing wisdom and pick Josh Allen — who went to the Bills at No. 7 — it’s hard to imagine things would have turned out any better. The other quarterbacks in the top 10 that year — Baker Mayfield (first), Sam Darnold (third), Josh Rosen (10th) — have delivered a combined total of one playoff win in six years.
The night he drafted Barkley, Gettleman famously proclaimed: “He was touched by the hand of God, frankly. We felt Saquon was the best player in the draft. … I haven’t seen a guy like this in a long time.”
And look, however you feel that decision went — however terrible you think Gettleman was as a GM — you have to admit, there were times when he was absolutely right. Barkley was that good when he was at his best, mostly as a rookie, when it seemed every game he was good for a highlight-reel run that heartened to Barry Sanders or Gale Sayers.
He went for 1,307 yards rushing and 2,028 yards from scrimmage that first year, good enough to win Offensive Rookie of the Year. He had 1,003 more yards in just 13 games his second year.
And then, the knee.
And even with that, there was this remarkable season a year ago, when it seemed that the Barkley-Daniel Jones partnership was about to ascend to a special place. Barkley was a Pro Bowler again. He ran for 1,312 yards, had 14 touchdowns, scored twice in the Giants’ playoff win against the Vikings. He was something to see. He was easy to cheer for. He was a warehouse of thrills.
But the Giants franchised him. He held out briefly, returned eagerly, got hurt again, and by the time he came back the season was already a wreck. Now, it seems almost inevitable that he will be playing somewhere else next year.
“It didn’t go the way I would want it to,” Barkley said this week.
The year didn’t. The career here hasn’t. And maybe this is all a mirage, maybe there’ll be more to come. If not? Maybe he can have one last game for us all to remember him by.
He needs 84 more yards to hit 1,000 for the fourth time. That’s something. The Giants can send the Eagles spinning farther down to the abyss with a win. That’s also something.
It may not be what Gettleman thought he was signing up for in 2018, or the script Barkley himself might have chosen.
But it would be something.
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