The Giants, entering their 100th NFL season, are featured in the first-ever edition of this new version of the hit HBO show that for a long stretch would only cover a team during training camp leading up to the regular season.
Now, we get a behind-the-scenes look following the Giants’ directly after the conclusion of a 6-11 season as they prepare for a pivotal 2024 campaign with QB Daniel Jones, who played in only six games last season due to neck and knee injuries, including a torn ACL from which he continues to recover.
Here are our takeaways after the second episode of “Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants,” with a focus on the process of rebuilding the team in the third year for general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll:
‘Give me your word’
There was so much to digest in this episode and great insight into how the Giants attacked their preparation for the Combine, but let’s start this review with what transpired in the show’s final five minutes.
This has been teased since the initial trailer for the series, and it turns out to be phone calls on March 5 – the final day to use the franchise tag – from Schoen to Ed Berry, the agent for Saquon Barkley, and Barkley himself. The Giants’ GM, among other things, is letting Barkley’s camp know that they will not be using the tag, and he’ll reach the free agent market for the first time in his career.
What we learned from Schoen’s conversation with Berry: they clearly have a good relationship.
Consider what Schoen told Berry, which is the reason why the Giants decided not to extend Barkley a contract offer: “Here’s what I’m worried about, we offer him something, he gets a little pissed off because it’s not what he wants, and then some other team comes in a million over us, he feels disrespected so he goes. … I think he can still play, you gotta get the value right.”
That sentiment established the most revealing exchange of the entire series to date.
This from Berry: “That’s why I’m asking, like, in your room at night, when you’re by yourself, are you like, ‘I wouldn’t mind if this kid bounced’?”
Schoen answered with surprising candor.
“I’m torn, Ed, because I still think he can play. And I think he can help us,” he said. “But I didn’t want to come in at a number, because I don’t have a great idea where the market is. I’m gonna let the league tell him what it is. … I do think he was our best offensive player.”
Schoen tells Berry he’s going to reach out to Barkley and deliver the “no tag” news, and he’ll text him back after their conversation. When Barkley answers Schoen’s call, you can feel the frostiness between them.
Barkley seems appreciative of the Giants’ decision to allow him to set his own market, but when Schoen presses Barkley on his commitment to circle back with an offer to match, asking the running back if he’ll “give me your word,” the response came off somewhat chilly: “I mean, I already told you where I want to be, so …”
Barkley’s voice trailed off, and that set the stage for what sure sounded like a farewell from Schoen, even if that was not the intention.
“I love you, man, I appreciate everything you did for the organization, the two years I was here,” Schoen told Barkley. “I’m not saying we’re not gonna get something done, but I think it’s right, if for some reason it doesn’t work out, you know the organization thinks the world of you and everything you’ve done. But, hopefully, you go out there, you see the market and you say, you know what, I want to be here, and you give us a shout back.”
To which Barkley replied: “All right, I appreciate y’all.”
That conversation seemingly sets the stage for what we will witness in Episode 3: free agency and Barkley’s ultimate departure to the Eagles.
Salary cap surprise
The episode opens with Schoen in his office when the memo from the league pops up on his computer screen. The date is February 23.
“Holy cow – $255.4 [million],” Schoen says with a breathless gasp. “Wow. Wow.”
He’s quickly on the phone with Chris Rossetti, the Giants’ director of pro scouting.
“That’s huge, so that gives us, what, $35 [million in space],” Rossetti says before Schoen interrupts him, somewhat playfully and laughs: “Just relax.”
In the moment, Schoen acknowledges that the Giants will have to adjust their conservative cap projections, and how the new number will likely change some things across the league in terms of free agency. Xavier McKinney is mentioned, and both Schoen and Rossetti seem to express having a better chance of retaining the safety, who ultimately signs with Green Bay for a deal worth $17 million per year.
“26 probably thinks he’s getting Jonathan Taylor money now,” Rossetti quips, referring to Barkley, whose story arc with this series should culminate in Episode 3.
