Saquon Barkley didn’t know the Giants were picking him until he saw the New Jersey area code on his phone soon after the Browns made Baker Mayfield the No. 1 overall choice.
“Yeah, a lot of people had a lot of speculation and reports the Giants were going to take me, but to be completely honest with you, I didn’t know 100 percent sure until literally when the Browns drafted Baker, I got a phone call,” the Penn State running back said. “When I saw the New Jersey number, that’s when it was 100 proof I knew I was getting drafted to the Giants.”
He understands the Giants passed on a quarterback to take him. They didn’t get Eli Manning’s heir apparent, but Barkley gives the Giants a better chance to win now by adding another playmaker to an offense loaded with them.
“Yeah, winning now that’s what you play the game for -- to win and to win championships,” Barkely said when asked about the Giants passing on Sam Darnold, Josh Allen and Josh Rosen. “In my visit with the Giants, you walk in you see the Super Bowl trophies hanging up in the trophy case, and that’s something you admire; that’s something you strive for; and that’s the standard of that place. You know the expectation when you walk in.
“They went 3-13 last year with a lot of injuries, but that’s football. That team is a lot better than 3-13. Very talented especially on the offensive side of the ball and the defensive side of the ball. You’ve got Eli Manning, a proven quarterback, a great wide receiving corps like by OBJ [Odell Beckham], one of the best wide receivers in the NFL if not the best wide receiver in the NFL. To be able to put myself in the offense and hope, God willing, have the success I had in college and command the attention that I had in college in the backfield. It’s kind of like pick your poison and hopefully I can have that success at an early age.”
