Add Michael Strahan to the list of New York Giants legends who believe the club needs to hang onto quarterback Daniel Jones and running back Saquon Barkley this offseason.
According to Steve Serby of the New York Post, Strahan said during a Super Bowl LVII media obligation that both Jones and the Giants are “better” with Barkley.
“He’s a leader in every single way,” Strahan remarked about Barkley. “I think Saquon Barkley is one of the players that you have to keep on this team in order to build off what they did last year.”
Strahan noted that Jones did enough in his first season under head coach Brian Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka to earn a lucrative second pro contract. Both Jones and Barkley can hit free agency when the new league year opens in March.
“I think he has the right temperament,” Strahan said of Jones. “I didn’t think I’d meet anybody or see anybody who’s more quiet than Eli Manning when they played, and Daniel Jones has accomplished that. He’s done that.”
Jones routinely drew comparisons to “Easy Eli” as the 2019 first-round draft pick guided the Giants to wins and a playoff berth without having a true No. 1 wide receiver or a consistently-reliable offensive line. In 16 regular-season games, Jones produced 3,205 passing yards with 15 touchdowns to go along with 708 rushing yards and seven scores on the ground. He tossed only five interceptions and avoided the types of concerning injury setbacks that impacted him in previous years.
It was reported on Tuesday that “the belief” around the NFL is that the Giants will re-sign Barkley before free agency begins. Doing so would allow general manager Joe Schoen to use the franchise tag to retain Jones if the two sides can’t come to an agreement on a long-term deal.
SNY NFL insider Connor Hughes and Paul Schwartz of the New York Post have insisted Schoen won’t let Jones hit the open market. Assuming Schoen keeps Barkley and Jones together for another campaign, Strahan had a different request for the executive.
“Wide receiver’s probably the biggest position where they probably go look for a home-run hitter,” Strahan said of the Giants’ potential offseason plans. “They need some playmakers, some big playmakers.”
