The first episode of HBO’s “Hark Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants” premiered on Tuesday night, and there was plenty of interesting behind-the-scenes content for Big Blue fans to delve into.
Since the start of the offseason, conversations about how to deal with the Saquon Barkley situation, such as Brian Burns The trade began with a lighthearted conversation at the Senior Bowl, the first episode had many interesting moments.
Here are the key takeaways…
What to do with Saquon?
The first episode of “Hard Knocks” featured plenty of discussion about the running back position, including Joe Schoen and his team discussing what to do with Barkley, who was about to enter free agency, and what other running back options would be available, including Single Devinwho finally signed with Big Blue.
The Giants at least entertained the idea of franchising Barkley with the intention of trading him, but that idea was quickly dispelled.
“I don’t think it’s realistic to franchise him and trade him,” Schoen told the playing staff at one point in February. ….There is no guarantee we could replace it.”
The episode also showed Schoen talking to the Giants owner João Mara about what the possibilities were regarding Barkley, saying the plan was to let Barkley test the market and then come back to see if the Giants could match.
“In a perfect world, I would still like to have him back,” Mara tells Schoen. “Until we can prove we can have a decent offense without him.”
“(Daniel Jones) is making a lot of money and… we have to find out if he’s the one, so we have to protect him,” Schoen responds. “We need to put resources there.”
At one point, Schoen also says that last year’s negotiations with Barkley, when the Giants ended up placing the franchise tag on him, “was 10 years out of my life dealing with that.”
Is Daniel Jones “the guy?”
The quarterback position was a big question mark for the Giants this offseason. We now know that the team tried but failed to advance in the draft to select the North Carolina quarterback. Drake Maye, and this first episode shows that the Giants certainly still have long-term questions about Jones, especially with his recent injury history.
“My plan is to address the offensive line at some point here in free agency. We’re sitting at 6, so there’s a chance there’s an offensive weapon there. This is the year for Daniel,” Schoen tells Mara. “The plan all along was to give him a few years. Will he be our guy for the next 10 years or do we need to move on and find someone else?”
“You have to have a quarterback in this league to win. The reality is that Daniel Jones is coming off an ACL,” Schoen said in a meeting with HBO staff. “He’s had three injuries in the last few years, and that’s real. You can’t ignore that, whether it’s through free agency or the draft. We need to have something in place like a contingency plan.”
Schoen is also seen defending Jones for his performance when healthy last season, citing the revolving door that was the offensive line.
“The reality is – facts – three serious injuries in two years. We need to protect ourselves,” Schoen tells his team. “He didn’t have many chances last year. … In Miami we had three practice squad players playing for us (on the offensive line). You can have Pat Mahomes and he can’t win behind that offensive line.
“I’m not giving up. Like, he’s under contract for three more years. Just protecting us because the best predictor of the future is the past.”
Burns, baby, burns
NFL negotiations often stem from casual conversations and important events like the NFL Combine, and the Giants’ landing of Burns was no different.
In Mobile, Alabama, for the Senior Bowl, Schoen struck up a conversation with his good friend and new GM of the Panthers Daniel Morganwho was a Carolina player when Schoen started there as a scouting assistant.
What began as a quick breeze quickly turned into more concrete trade negotiations, and although the trade was not executed at that time, it planted its roots on the sidelines of the practice fields in Mobile.
Schoen: “Do you want to go from 33 to six?”
Morgana: “Do you want to give us two for Burns?”
Schoen: “No. I mean, yes, but…
Morgana: “Or one and something?”
Schoen: “You are heading in the right direction.”
Eventually, the Giants ended up trading a second-rounder, a fifth-rounder and a conditional 2025 fifth-rounder for Burns and a fourth-rounder. They then gave Burns a five-year contract worth $150 million.
Hiring Shane Bowen
Another interesting moment from the premiere episode was Brian Daboll telling Schoen he would offer Bowen the defensive coordinator position, with Daboll analyzing some of Bowen’s past defensive ratings to defend the former DC Titans.
“Can you make our run defense look like this, please?” Daboll joked to Schoen.
“He has a clear vision of some of the things he wants to do,” Schoen told the cameras. “I thought it was an important part of the success he had.”
Bowen was also seen meeting with the Giants front office to explain their defensive scheme and what type of players work best.
