How interested were the Bears in signing Saquon Barkley? New episode of ‘Hard Knocks’ reveals originally appeared in NBC Sports Chicago
One of the most notable free agents in the NFL’s most recent open market period was Saquon Barkley.
In the second episode of HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” they revealed GM Joe Schoen’s conversation with Barkley and his agent, Ed Berry, the GM informing him they would let the running back test the market. The Giants were curious to know how much another team would be willing to pay their running back.
And, according to a text that Schoen received during the process, the Bears helped raise the stakes.
“I just got a message that Chicago is raising the price and Philly is out,” Schoen told his team on the show. “I don’t know if that’s true or not. I’ll make some calls. I don’t know if that’s going to happen.”
The second part of that text was obviously not true. Philadelphia finally signed Barkley, signing him to a three-year contract worth $37.5 million. With this contract, Barkley placed himself among the five highest-paid running backs in the league.
Which turned out to be a nightmare for the Giants, who apparently wanted Barkley to go anywhere other than their division rival.
“I’m going to have trouble sleeping if Saquon goes to Philadelphia. I’ll tell you this,” Giants President/CEO John Mara said. “I’ve been around a lot of players, he’s by far the most popular player we have.”
Did the Bears help get Barkley out of New York? Perhaps. We know the Bears were involved in the running back market.
They signed D’Andre Swift from the Eagles — who signed Barkley —- to a three-year, $24 million contract. Swift joins Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson in a pretty formidable backfield.
And they potentially left a mark on Barkley’s transcendent free agency period in the process.
