Former New York Giants great Michael Strahan believes his old team needs to keep both running back Saquon Barkley and quarterback Daniel Jones this offseason.
“You gotta keep Saquon,” Strahan said, via the New York Post. “You can see that Daniel Jones is better with him in there, the team is better with him in there, he’s a leader in every single way. 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 played with many quarterbacks — both good and bad — during his 15 years with the Giants: Phil Simms, Dave Brown, Kent Graham, Danny Kanell, Kerry Collins, Kurt Warner and finally, Eli Manning. The Hall of Famer knows a good quarterback when he sees one and is high on Jones.
“This guy hasn’t been in the same system with the same head coach, coordinator, anything since he’s been with the Giants,” Strahan said. “See what he did this year? With a receiving corps that was depleted? It’s just amazing to me that he made the playoffs. And he took over games when he needed to take over.”
Giants general manager Joe Schoen is wrestling with the prospect of keeping both players, who are just weeks away from becoming unrestricted free agents.
It will cost the Giants almost all of their available cap space ($44 million) to retain both players. Schoen will have to be creative in his approach.
Strahan believes it will be well worth the investment comparing Jones to two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning.
“You have to pay Daniel Jones. That’s just the way football works right now. And the hardest position to fill is quarterback. So, if you don’t keep him, somebody else will get him and then what’s your next move? There’s no guarantee anyone else is gonna be great,” Strahan said.
“So I think that Daniel did enough to earn himself a great contract there in New York. I think he has the right temperament. 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.”
We are about to see just how good Schoen is at his job. Most Giant fans want to see Jones and Barkley return but it’s going to be a tight fit.
