Mara on why they didn't trade Barkley

[MightyGiants]

https://x.com/nydailynews/status/1773096671162818653?s=46&t=1vcQIN8GqF5J2oLdxEVEJQ

[DaveBrown74]

Does "still trying to win" mean he thought they might make the playoffs?

"Still trying to win" for the sake of winning when you know you have zero chance of actually contending and almost zero chance of the playoffs, instead of investing in your future during a throwaway season, sounds so absurdly foolish.

Also if what he said is true, why did they trade Leo?

Makes no sense.

[PSUBeirut]

They were never going to try and re-sign Leo.  They wanted to re-sign Barkley but the money wasn't going to match up once they found out that WHOOPS there actually was a large market for Saquon.

Makes plenty of sense.  And I happen to agree with it- I think it would be an awful look to just do a wholesale firesale at that point in the season. 

[DaveBrown74]

They were never going to try and re-sign Leo.  They wanted to re-sign Barkley but the money wasn't going to match up once they found out that WHOOPS there actually was a large market for Saquon.

Makes plenty of sense.  And I happen to agree with it- I think it would be an awful look to just do a wholesale firesale at that point in the season. 

How motivated do you think they really were to sign Barkley? They didn't tag him, and there were plenty of reports he was going to hit the free agent market. I would not say they made any real effort to sign him. I think it was a total waste to not trade him. "We were still trying to win" in the context of what this team was in 2023 is an absurd explanation.

[Ed Vette]

How motivated do you think they really were to sign Barkley? They didn't tag him, and there were plenty of reports he was going to hit the free agent market. I would not say they made any real effort to sign him. I think it was a total waste to not trade him. "We were still trying to win" in the context of what this team was in 2023 is an absurd explanation.

If I can touch on this... remember that the RB market was depressed last season and there was a reasonable expectation that they might be able to reach a mutual agreement which from the perspective of Management and Ownership was in their favor. The shallow RB class changed that market along with teams that needed a two way back. Other teams see the Giants situation differently than some of us do. Some of us see Saquon as a rapidly aging RB who is in his decline do to injuries and who struggles in the passing game and in Pass Protection. The Eagles saw a poor Offensive Line and a Shell Shocked QB who had an adverse effect on the performance of SB.

So the situation was viewed differently last season to this season and from the perspective of a team looking to round out their Roster to remain relevant and get back to becoming a Playoff contender.

Just my two cents.

[jimc]

Does "still trying to win" mean he thought they might make the playoffs?

"Still trying to win" for the sake of winning when you know you have zero chance of actually contending and almost zero chance of the playoffs, instead of investing in your future during a throwaway season, sounds so absurdly foolish.

Also if what he said is true, why did they trade Leo?

Makes no sense.

No sense playing the game if you're not playing to win. If you are going to give up, at what point should you tell the players that you are giving up? 2-6 after 8 games?

[Bob In PA]

How motivated do you think they really were to sign Barkley? They didn't tag him, and there were plenty of reports he was going to hit the free agent market. I would not say they made any real effort to sign him. I think it was a total waste to not trade him. "We were still trying to win" in the context of what this team was in 2023 is an absurd explanation.

DB: IMO there are different levels of "motivated" and the Giants wanted him, just not badly (due to the cost). Bob

[MightyGiants]

Does "still trying to win" mean he thought they might make the playoffs?

"Still trying to win" for the sake of winning when you know you have zero chance of actually contending and almost zero chance of the playoffs, instead of investing in your future during a throwaway season, sounds so absurdly foolish.

Also if what he said is true, why did they trade Leo?

Makes no sense.

Unfortunately, Mara is part of that group that feels winning meaningless games is better than being well set in the draft to acquire assets that can assure the team's long-term success.

[nb587]

When Mara says he was hoping to re-sign Barkley, does that mean the team was trying including Schoen?  Or, was Mara speaking like one of us,  a fan?  I wish he would stop talking about personnel

[uconnjack8]

That quote makes me think Mara is still way too involved. Sounds like the subject was discussed and someone said don't trade him.  Could be the coaches given the offensive looking offense they were putting on the field, but I have to wonder.

If I can touch on this... remember that the RB market was depressed last season and there was a reasonable expectation that they might be able to reach a mutual agreement which from the perspective of Management and Ownership was in their favor. The shallow RB class changed that market along with teams that needed a two way back. Other teams see the Giants situation differently than some of us do. Some of us see Saquon as a rapidly aging RB who is in his decline do to injuries and who struggles in the passing game and in Pass Protection. The Eagles saw a poor Offensive Line and a Shell Shocked QB who had an adverse effect on the performance of SB.

So the situation was viewed differently last season to this season and from the perspective of a team looking to round out their Roster to remain relevant and get back to becoming a Playoff contender.

Just my two cents.

The Eagles who have played against Barkley  2X per year (minus injuries) for 5 years and have made a lot more good moves than bad, thought he was worth signing.

One question, didnt Barkley grade out as one of the top blockers at his position the last couple of years?

As for the passing game, I disagree with peoples assessment  and am guessing Roseman does too.  This this the guy that lined up as a WR and beat Marshon Lattimore for a long TD.  RBs that can line up as WRs are definitely a commodity today. 

[MightyGiants]

That quote makes me think Mara is still way too involved. Sounds like the subject was discussed and someone said don't trade him.  Could be the coaches given the offensive looking offense they were putting on the field, but I have to wonder.
The Eagles who have played against Barkley  2X per year (minus injuries) for 5 years and have made a lot more good moves than bad, thought he was worth signing.

One question, didnt Barkley grade out as one of the top blockers at his position the last couple of years?

As for the passing game, I disagree with peoples assessment  and am guessing Roseman does too.  This this the guy that lined up as a WR and beat Marshon Lattimore for a long TD.  RBs that can line up as WRs are definitely a commodity today. 

Matt,

I specifically watched Barkley's speed (which is independent of the O-line).  His speed (which made him a special RB) simply wasn't there last season.  He was getting caught from behind when he did have breakout runs or large holes to run through.   

As for his receiving, even Barkley knows he has issues.  He was constantly doing drills to work on his hand-eye coordination in the last two training camps I was at.

As for Howie Roseman, I don't believe he is the super genius some believe him to be.  Yes, he has made some excellent trades, and unlike the Giants, he is willing to tank to help his team gain valuable draft capital, but beyond that, Howie has drafted and signed players who have failed as well as the hits that people like to focus on.

[MightyGiants]

Art Stapleton
@art_stapleton
I know there's been some debate over what John Mara said Monday regarding trade deadline dump deals and specifically Saquon Barkley.

If you enjoy the debate, check out my good friends
@ShaunMorash
 and
@rydunleavy
 who are entertaining all those who follow this morning.

But these two points are important from Mara: 1, the timing last year regarding Saquon - NYG still held out hope that Daniel Jones' return  the week after the deadline would give them some life last year.

2, Mara still had hope that Giants could sign Saquon at their price. Obviously that did not happen, but it's also why he did not fault Schoen for not dealing him.

Message to the locker room at the time is a big point, but not every situation is the same. See Leonard Williams.
9:25 AM · Mar 28, 2024
·
4,153
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[zephirus]

You guys need to stop focusing on what Mara's lips are saying and focus more on what likely happened behind the scenes. 

- Does Mara gain anything other than alienating other players if he said "we had no intention of resigning Saquon"?  It doesn't cost him anything to appear to have given it the old college try even if they knew it was unlikely they were going to bring him back.
- With Barkley being on a one year there would have been limited trade value for him.  If a team in good position had wanted him they might have given up a late round pick to get him for the latter half of the season, but mind you, he was struggling with injuries yet again.  Any team that wanted him with the intention of signing him long term during the season also probably would not have wanted to part with a lot of draft picks only to fork over more cash.  Keep in mind that most teams are flying pretty close to the salary cap by the time the season kicks off.
- "We were still trying to win" sure sounds a whole lot better than "we couldn't get much for him on the market, we're paying him anyway, and if we retained him at least we get a compensatory draft pick".

So the options are trade away one of the best players on the team, telegraph that you're giving up on the season for peanuts or keep him around, take your lumps and earn a likely 3rd round pick as a consolation prize.  I think Schoen et al got it right. 

[Jclayton92]

Should have traded him before the trade deadline in 2022. He hit a wall right after that.

His metrics are among the worst in the league, let someone else have him.

I watched the pod with him and the kelce Brothers and all he did was share his admiration for the Eagles and came off really insincere and fake.

[uconnjack8]

Matt,

I specifically watched Barkley's speed (which is independent of the O-line).  His speed (which made him a special RB) simply wasn't there last season.  He was getting caught from behind when he did have breakout runs or large holes to run through.   

As for his receiving, even Barkley knows he has issues.  He was constantly doing drills to work on his hand-eye coordination in the last two training camps I was at.

As for Howie Roseman, I don't believe he is the super genius some believe him to be.  Yes, he has made some excellent trades, and unlike the Giants, he is willing to tank to help his team gain valuable draft capital, but beyond that, Howie has drafted and signed players who have failed as well as the hits that people like to focus on.

I saw his speed decreased somewhat as well.  We will see if he is rejuvenated with some time off and not having to carry the load of an entire offense. 

Maybe this is one of Roseman's few mistakes, I sure hope so, but his record is pretty strong and its a player his team knows well.  Hard for me to imagine they do not know what they are getting.  Yes they have made mistakes, but they have obviously made more good decisions than the Giants over the last decade.