The first glimpse of the Giants on HBO’s new offseason edition of “Hard Knocks” has arrived, and with it what appears to be a critical exchange between the team’s front office and now-former Giants running back Saquon Barkley.
In the 80-second trailer for the NFL docuseries that dropped Tuesday, general manager Joe Schoen was sitting in his office on the phone with Barkley, who eventually departed in free agency for the loathed rival Eagles.
“Saquon, can you give me your word on that or are you not going to give us a chance?” Schoen asked.
Although the context of the entire conversation is unclear, HBO cameras started following the Giants in January and captured many pivotal moments this offseason, including the NFL Scouting Combine, the 2024 NFL Draft and of course, free agency.
Barkley, the Giants’ top pick in 2018, agreed to a three-year, $37.5 million contract with the Eagles in March.
“I’m just ready to get the business side off of it,” Barkley said during his introductory press conference in Philadelphia. “The last two years, so many people would come up to talk to me about me getting [franchise-] tagged or talk about contracts. Now all that’s done. The business side is done. We can keep the main thing the main thing — and that’s winning football games.”
Barkley, 27, will return to MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 20 — three months after the “Hard Knocks” cameras are set to stop rolling on the Giants.
Elsewhere in the clip, quarterback Daniel Jones — whom the Giants awarded a four-year contract extension worth $160 million last offseason — spoke about his recovery from a torn ACL he sustained in November.
“I am five months from the surgery, still progressing that,” the former first-round pick said. “I’ve gotten hurt, but not like this.”
When Jones, 27, does return to the field, he’ll have a new toy to play with in the form of former LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers, the sixth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
“Our team’s not built, we’re still adding pieces,” head coach Brian Daboll said of the Giants, who finished the 2023 season at 6-11 following a surprising run to the Divisional Round of the playoffs a year prior.
Former Panthers edge rusher Brian Burns is among the pieces the Giants added this offseason, with the lead-up to the blockbuster trade captured on “Hard Knocks.”
“What about Brian Burns, have you looked at Brian Burns?” Schoen said. “We would have to trade like two twos and then you have to pay him 28, 29 million.”
The Giants formally acquired Burns, 26, from the Panthers in March, sending a 2024 second-round pick (No. 39 overall) and a 2025 fifth-rounder to Carolina.
The team subsequently signed the two-time Pro Bowler to a five-year contract worth $150 million.
“I’m a G-Man,” Burns exclaimed from the Giants’ facility after arriving in New York.
The five-part “Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants” premieres Tuesday, July 2, and will conclude on Tuesday, July 30.
