Giants on 'Hard Knocks': Free agency frenzy and drama-free farewell to Saquon Barkley

A pair of text messages - one sent by Joe Schoen and one received - framed the third episode of Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants.

The first - from the general manager to head coach Brian Daboll - was delivered on a Saturday morning at 6 a.m., two days prior to the start of the NFL's free agency negotiating period in March, and it read:

"Protect the quarterback. Get after the quarterback. Let’s go."

And the second, from Schoen's youngest daughter Harper at the close the first official day of free agency:

"Hey Daddy, good job at work today."

Everything in between those two texts tested the mettle and patience of Schoen, and all of it was covered in a 37-minute third installment of the NFL Films docuseries that incredibly has just two episodes left.

Here are the takeaways from the latest episode that first aired July 16 with a focus on the process of rebuilding the team in the third year for Schoen and Daboll centered around free agency:

'We're out'

This really was a drama-free episode when comparing Schoen's call to Saquon Barkley that ended last week's show. We never heard from Barkley, and while Schoen makes several calls to his agent, Ed Berry, the latter's part of the conversations is not aired for the viewer to hear.

There was confusion created by the captioning on a preview released on social media by NFL Films, suggesting Schoen and the Giants had indeed made an official offer to Barkley. What actually happened: Schoen offered up a hypothetical to Berry, asking if the Giants put a three-year, $37.5 million contract with $25 million guaranteed on the table, would that result in a return for Barkley.

Shortly thereafter, in a call to co-owner and team president John Mara, Schoen suggested Berry could not guarantee that was the case, and there would be work to do. At that point, it sure seemed like Schoen was wary of having his offer used to drive up the price elsewhere.

Later in the episode, Schoen phoned Berry and told him the Giants were out with the price having reached a certain point. News of Barkley’s deal with the Eagles broke and director of pro scouting Chris Rossetti read the terms out loud for Schoen, presumably on social media.

John Mara thinks like an owner. He thinks about the business and he thinks about the football. He does think about the fans' reaction, probably too much. It's not hard to see why he didn't want to trade Odell Beckham Jr., why he wanted to keep Eli Manning for as long as possible and why he would have paid Barkley to keep him out of Philly. That being said: Schoen's job is not on the line because he made a move that Mara thought would hurt in terms of popularity.

Soon after, Schoen and Mara had this exchange that closed Barkley's chapter with the Giants.

"We’re gonna be fine," Schoen said, to which Mara responded: "I think we will be, too."

This divorce was best for both sides

It's funny how we were led to play this game between the Giants and Barkley, the game they were playing as well.

I truly believe Saquon liked the idea of being a Giant for life, but there's a difference between the "Giant for life" experiences of Eli Manning or Michael Strahan and, say, Brian Kelley, who lived the 1970s and pre-Super Bowl 1980s.

It's easy to want to sign on for the Eli/Stray experience. Kelley's career had a lot of heartache, frustration and was a tease of what was to come. I don't blame Saquon for leaving. I don't blame Schoen for wanting to move on. But it's laughable to suggest one side wanted it to happen, but the other didn't. That's why Berry's question to Schoen in Episode 2 and Schoen's "I'm torn" answer was the most honest thing to come out of Hard Knocks so far.

And because of who we are in the media and a group of fans, this will turn into how Saquon can get his pound of flesh when the Eagles play the Giants this season.

I get it. I'll write about it, too.

Am I surprised Saquon never just blasted the Giants for being incompetent in the Gettleman years? No, because he knew better.

Am I surprised Schoen didn't publicly distance himself with his feelings about Saquon as a player? No, because he knew better.

In the end, this divorce needed to happen and it was going to happen because, truth be told, both sides knew it was best for the Giants and for Saquon Barkley.

Free agency frenzy

We entered the Ed Triggs and Kevin Abrams portion of the program. As two of Schoen's lead salary cap guys and negotiators, they were introduced to the audience as the Giants hit the market.

The Giants had three offensive line targets at the top of their list: guards Jon Runyan and Robert Hunt, and guard/tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, sending offers to all three. The Giants ended up landing Runyan when Schoen beat out an offer from the Jets, who had $9 million per year with $17 million guaranteed on the table.

Abrams told Schoen that Drew Rosenhaus, Runyan's agent, said the Giants were going to have to beat that because of the Aaron Rodgers-Nathaniel Hackett connection. Both were with Runyan in Green Bay.

Triggs told Schoen the Giants were competing with Arizona for Eluemunor and they had to go up to $7 million per year. "He’s gonna be our starting right tackle or our starting left guard," Rossetti said.

Schoen and Daboll were clear that Tyrod Taylor was their top target for backup quarterback. But, the Jets wound up luring Taylor away with a more lucrative offer.

Schoen mentioned Drew Lock and Sam Darnold, who went to Minnesota, and Gardner Minshew, who was at a much higher price point. The Giants went up to $5 million guaranteed to secure Lock, preventing him from going back to the Seahawks.

As far as running back, the Giants pivoted to Devin Singletary, who Daboll had in Buffalo and seemingly preferred over D'Andre Swift.

Schoen seals the Spida-Man deal

Schoen compromised with Panthers GM Dan Morgan and included the better of the Giants’ second round picks to seal the deal for Brian Burns. The price of a 2 and a fifth rounder next year, plus a swap of picks this spring was a far cry from the two first-rounders Morgan playfully requested when the topic was first broached back at the Senior Bowl two months earlier.

Next week: The NFL Draft is here

It's clear the Giants are willing to let their possible pursuit of a quarterback on Draft Night hit the screen.

Next week's teaser showed two scenes that serve as confirmation.

The first: Schoen asks Daboll if Jayden Daniels, who went No. 2 overall, is someone he would trade up for, and the coach said yes.

The second: with Mara and co-owner Steve Tisch in Schoen's office on draft night, Schoen quips: "If we don’t get a quarterback here, we’re rolling with Daniel [Jones] and we’re gonna try to get him a weapon. We good with that?"

Daboll: "Yup."