If you’re a New York Giants fan, it still is baffling that the team lost Saquon Barkley to the Philadelphia Eagles.
But on the Pro Football Talk podcast on the NFL on NBC network, hosts Mike Florio and Chris Simms say that it looks worse than it is because the decision was televised on HBO’s Hard Knocks show. Selective editing may not have helped, they contend.
“First off, the running back market, said Simms. “There's a lot of people that are doing business like that in the NFL and just believe in numbers at the running back position and how you explained it. There's good guys coming out every year, and all the Giants had 900 holes to fill last year on their team. They weren't good. So, yeah, they're at a point of their career where they're going, 'Hey, it's a running back.' He's getting to year five and six and seven. I don't know about that.”
The Giants didn’t have a great offensive line even if they signed Barkley, Simms argued.
“And is it really going to pay us back in the way we would want it?And that, to me, is where I have a little bit of a soft spot in my heart for the Giants in that situation.”
The Eagles, with a great offensive line, maximized Barkley’s abilities.
“And then you have the owner coming in. And then specifically bringing up the Philadelphia Eagles name in the conversation and how he won't be able to sleep, and then the added, you know cherry on top of this, is by far the most popular person on our team like it's not even close.”
“That just destroyed the Giants and the public eye.”
Florio blamed the editing on Hard Knocks for making things look worse for General Manager Joe Schoen, and better for co-owner John Mara.
“I'd love to know how the final cut was devised for the various episodes of off-season Hard Knocks,” Florio said. “I know how much we talked about it at the time because I think we were so blown away by the content.
"But whoever had that final (cut) power, and I don't know, maybe they just didn't exercise it. Did they deliberately do it? ‘Hey, we're going to make the owner look good here.’”