Daniel Jones watched Eagles' playoff win from Saquon Barkley's box

Two years after Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones played in NFC Divisional Round as teammates, the two former New York Giants found themselves back in the same stadium for a second-round postseason tilt under entirely different circumstances.

Jordan Raanan of ESPN says that Jones and former Giants wideout Sterling Shepard were among those who sat in Barkley's box at Lincoln Financial Field during the 28-22 Eagles win over the Los Angeles Rams Sunday: 

Saquon Barkley (205 yards rushing, 2 TDs) and the Eagles reach the NFC Championship. Daniel Jones and Sterling Shepard were among those in his box cheering on their close friend.

— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) January 19, 2025

Everything seemingly came together for the Giants in 2022, as they snuck into the playoffs with a 9-7-1 record and Brian Daboll won Coach of the Year in his first season on the job. Jones, Barkley and the Giants upset Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Wild Card Round, before running into a much more talented Eagles team in the Divisional Round. 

Still, things appeared to finally be headed in the right direction for the Giants. That was, until they couldn't reach a multi-year deal with Barkley prior to him becoming a free agent and elected to use the franchise tag on their star running back, leaving them to give Jones — also slated to hit the open market — a four-year/$160 million extension that guaranteed him $82 million at signing. In a perfect world, the Giants would have been able to ink Barkley to a contract and used the franchise tag on Jones, who had largely struggled prior to Daboll's arrival. But that's not how things played out, and the Giants are 9-25 since then. 

After Barkley played on the franchise tag a year ago, the Giants allowed him to leave in free agency and sign what now amounts to the most team-friendly contract in the sport — a three-year/$37.5 million deal with a modest $26 million in guarantees — with the division-rival Eagles. Barkley rushed for 2,005 yards in his first season with the Eagles and will likely win the Offensive Player of the Year. He set a new Eagles' postseason franchise record with 205 rushing yards in Sunday's win over the Rams. It's been run into the ground, but every week you're left to shake your head at how the Giants managed to blow things so badly with Barkley. 

Jones, meanwhile, was released by the Giants in November and finished the season on the roster of the Vikings. Jones may very well have a second act as a starting quarterback for a more stable organization, but the decision to give him a multi-year contract over Barkley is one the Giants may never live down. 

It was only two years in between NFC Divisional Round playoff games for Barkley, but it may as well have been a lifetime.