New York Giants players show disrespect toward Saquon Barkley before the game.

This Sunday in Philadelphia, the New York Giants will be forced to confront a major factor in what led to their undoing this season: They have already been humiliated by former running back and now Eagles superstar Saquon Barkley, who ran roughshod over them earlier in the season en route to becoming the ninth running back in NFL history to ever rush for over 2,000 yards in a season. They will be spared the humiliation of Barkley gaining another 101 yards to break Eric Dickerson’s all-time single-season rushing record, but only because the playoff-bound Eagles are set to rest their starters while the Giants close out what has turned into a catastrophe of a centennial season.

It is no accident that the Giants have gone 3-13 and are enduring one of the worst seasons in their 100-year history, and the loss of Barkley is a major reason why beyond his All-Pro caliber play: According to a report by Jordan Raanan of ESPN, a “good chunk” of players on the Giants believe that Saquon Barkley’s presence and impact on the locker room was undervalued by the front office, as general manager Joe Schoen elected to never make Barkley an official contract offer after the 2023 season based on his roster building philosophy and the positional value of running backs.

That decision has made Schoen and the Giants look foolish, and it has placed both him and coach Brian Daboll on the hot seat as the calendar approaches “Black Monday.” the term that has become synonymous with management firings in the NFL.

“For me the biggest part of losing Saquon was the locker room aspect,” tight end Daniel Bellinger said in ESPN’s story. “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.”

A specific example of Barkley’s leadership offered to ESPN concerned the 2023 season, when Barkley was credited with helping keep the locker room together and rallying around undrafted rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito, who took over midseason after injuries to both Daniel Jones and Tyrod Taylor led to the Giants getting off to a 2-8 start. The Giants salvaged a 6-11 season, thanks largely to a three-game win streak with DeVito at quarterback.

What made Barkley’s absence worse was that the Giants also cut ties with other accomplished veterans, captains, and team leaders: The Giants also failed to re-sign safety Xavier McKinney, and lost other leaders to free agency and trades including wide receiver Sterling Shepard, defensive tackle Leonard Williams, and safety Julian Love. Andrew Thomas and Dexter Lawrence, both leaders and team captains on the 2024 team, were both lost due to injuries.

The Giants’ leadership issues came to light midway through the season following the departure of Jones, who requested to be released after being benched following the team’s bye week. One anonymous player ripped team brass’ treatment of Jones, saying the decision had been made for financial reasons (due to injury guarantees in his contract) and that the scapegoating of Jones for the team’s record was “weak as f—,” and multiple players called out the team as being “soft” and giving a lack of effort in a 30-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers days later.