Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni trolls Giants fans over Saquon Barkley: "We got your best player"
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Nick Sirianni is glad to have new Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley on his side.
Barkley is one of the many new faces at Philadelphia's mandatory mini-camp on Tuesday after he signed a three-year, $37.75 million deal with the team in the offseason.
Sirianni, the emotional head coach who has even talked smack to opposing fans at times, said he fired back at the New York Giants during the offseason.
"Sometimes you see Giants fans around here with it being so close," he said. "And he, they give me a good 'Hey, go Giants!' And I typically let it go, but if the guy gets me good enough I usually say, 'We got your best player.'"
Before signing with the Eagles in March, Barkley spent the first six years of his career with the Giants, one of Philadelphia's rivals in the NFC East.
Recently in practice, Sirianni said he started having visions of Barkley making Eagles defenders miss tackles during games after the Penn State University product made a teammate miss a tackle in practice.
"I wasn't happy that our defensive player missed that tackle on this particular one," Sirianni said. "But I'm really happy that Saquon, that No. 26, is on our side making the guy miss."
Of course, when Barkley signed with the Eagles, it was met with animosity from Giants fans, including former New York running back Tiki Barber.
Barkley won't have to wait too long to play his former team in the 2024 season.
The Eagles will travel north to face the Giants at MetLife Stadium in Week 7 on Sunday, Oct. 20. They'll also play in the regular season finale against the Giants on Jan. 5, 2025.
"Saquon, it's really nice to see him in green," Sirianni said.