ESPN’s Jordan Ranaan penned a Thursday story titled “Giants says loss of Saquon Barkley in locker room underestimated.” There are some funny quotes that serve as a final kick to the groin for a 3-13 New York team that totally stinks:

“For me the biggest part of losing Saquon was the locker room aspect,” tight end Daniel Bellinger said. “Just having him as a leader and a guy that when there were times like, what do we do, he would be like ‘Go play!’… He brought an energy that sometimes we needed out there.”

“The whole locker room,” safety Dane Belton said. “It wasn’t just the offense as far as the leadership perspective. You definitely lose that. And you look at the team, we’re super young. To that, it can’t help to lose a great leader like that. Definitely think it was a tough loss.”

“Definitely a ton. I think they understood it but maybe just didn’t cherish it enough because we had two of them leave — [Barkley and wide receiver Sterling Shepard],” second-year quarterback Tommy DeVito said. “Two guys that were among the most vocal leaders on the offense, guys that have played a ton. Those two guys meant a tremendous amount, but obviously Saquon is my guy. He kind of helped bring me into this whole role and how everything went down. He was kind of my rock through it all. To see him go and how it went down, it was tough. Obviously, it’s a business as well.”

This is the perfect example of our foundational “two things can be true” manta. One, the Giants lost a key player, and his leadership, and proceeded to have a miserable season. Two, letting Saquon walk may have been the right decision. Why? Because they weren’t a contender to begin with. They didn’t have the Eagles’ offensive line and they didn’t have all of the pieces in play. If you’re rebuilding, which maybe they didn’t totally accept or realize, then paying a 27-year-old running back might not be the correct move at the time. But it was the correct move for the Eagles, and now we laugh at them.

Someone was telling me the other day that they think the 2022 season really screwed up the Giants. I agree 100%. They were way ahead of schedule that year, finished 9-7-1, won a playoff game, and perhaps tricked themselves into thinking they were a legitimate team. They committed to Daniel Jones, went 6-11 in 2023, and then proceeded to become one of the worst teams in the league in 2024. It’s a mess up there. They’ll dig themselves out at some point, but hopefully not soon.