Giants' John Mara explains why Saquon Barkley wasn't traded at 2023 deadline

EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY – DECEMBER 31: Saquon Barkley #26 of the New York Giants looks on prior to a game against the Los Angeles Rams at MetLife Stadium on December 31, 2023 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Mike Lawrence/Getty Images)

The New York Giants failed to deal running back Saquon Barkley at the 2023 trade deadline despite sporting a 2-6 record at the time. That decision came back to haunt them when Barkley inked a long-term deal with the Philadelphia Eagles at the onset of free agency.

The Giants ultimately lost Barkley and got nothing in return.

Although they recognized the possibility of being caught flat-footed, Giants co-owner John Mara says they were still attempting to compete at the time so they gambled on keeping Barkley.

“I hate trading guys right at the trade deadline because it almost signals that you’re giving up on the season,” Mara said this week at the Annual League Meeting, via the New York Daily News. “And Saquon, I was still hoping to be able to sign him at some point. It’s unfortunate we weren’t able to do it.”

Although Mara says they weren’t giving up on the season, that didn’t stop general manager Joe Schoen from trading defensive lineman Leonard Williams to the Seattle Seahawks.

In the eyes of Schoen, Barkley was more valuable offensively than Williams was defensively.

“(Barkley) was one of our better offensive players, and we weren’t giving up,” Schoen said. “We still wanted him to go out there and perform for us . . . When (Daniel Jones) was coming back from the neck injury, we wanted to make sure they could go out there and operate. I think Saquon was a big part of that at that time.”

Mara wanted Schoen to find a way to make it work but ultimately, Barkley departed. The Giants never even made him a contract offer.

“That was kind of an ongoing discussion through the year that it could come to this, and they knew my feelings that I was hoping it didn’t come to this,” Mara said. “But at the end of the day, I know sometimes every once in a while I read, ‘Oh, he’s meddling, he’s meddling.’ No. We’ve run our organization the same way for many, many years.”

That also means, contrary to popular belief, that the four-year contract given to Jones was the decision of Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll.

This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Giants’ John Mara explains why Saquon Barkley wasn’t traded at 2023 deadline