Giants say President Donald Trump never talked to team about letting Saquon Barkley walk in free agency
Published in Football
NEW YORK — The Giants went 3-14 and still found their way to the White House with the Super Bowl champion Eagles on Monday.
President Donald Trump claimed during the Eagles’ visit — which did not include quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts — that he told the Giants not to let Saquon Barkley leave in free agency last offseason.
“I was with the Giants and the head coach and some people and I said, ‘Do anything you have to, but don’t lose Saquon.’ ” Trump said of Barkley, who he called “a handsome guy.”
“They lost Saquon. That was not good. I called that one. That was an easy one to call because he played damn well for the Giants, I can tell you that,” the president said.
The Giants denied, however, that any such conversation took place.
Giants senior VP of communications Pat Hanlon told Front Office Sports that “there were no conversations” between Trump and the Giants about Barkley.
“With all due respect, stop yapping,” Hanlon wrote on ‘X,’ tagging the President’s account. “Be the leader we all want you to be. And my 401K wants you to be. I’m trying to retire!!”
For once in the Giants-Barkley dynamic, the star running back was the one with the public target on his back Monday.
Barkley faced backlash on social media for golfing with Trump on Sunday and then flying from New Jersey to Washington D.C. with the President prior to the Eagles’ visit.
Barkley posted a response to the criticism on ‘X’: “lol some people are really upset cause I played golfed and flew to the White House with the PRESIDENT. Maybe I just respect the office, not a hard concept to understand.”
Barkley also mentioned his recent round of golf with former president Barack Obama, which he played alongside Hurts and team owner Jeffrey Lurie.
Hurts was one of several Philadelphia players who did not attend Monday’s ceremony. Lurie had called the White House event “optional” for his players and coaches. But the owner, head coach Nick Sirianni and GM Howie Roseman all attended.
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