The New York Giants made the decision to move on from Saquon barkley in favor of a different approach to the running back position. Instead of paying Barkley top dollar, the Giants wanted to reverse course and allocate that money elsewhere.
They still needed a running back in 2024. With a deep free agent pool of running backs, the Giants considered a running back-by-committee approach with the freed up money.
One of those targets was former Eagles running back D'Andre Swift. The Giants were intrigued by Swift "from a physical talent standpoint" that could have "made up for some of the things they lost with Saquon."
This breakdown of D'Andre Swift by the NY Giants from Hard Knocks has me even more excited about his potential in #DaBears offense! 😤 @BN_Bears pic.twitter.com/V67wckyllG
— Michael Bolling (@mikealexbolling) July 3, 2024
Swift was a 1,000-yard running back with the Philadelphia Eagles last season, rushing for a career-high 1,049 yards on 4.6 yards per carry in earning his first Pro Bowl appearance. He also had a career-low 39 catches for 214 yards (5.5 yards per catch), as the Eagles underutilized that aspect of his game.
The Eagles had Swift as a featured back last season, thanks to the disappearance of Rashaad Penny and the struggles of Kenneth Gainwell. The Giants viewed Swift as the lead back in a running back-by-committee approach, admitting "you're going to pair him with somebody."
New York also thought "it would be hard to get Swift out of Philly," which the Eagles were his hometown team and Swift was from Philadelphia. Swift wasn't brought back by the Eagles and ended up signing a three-year, $24 million deal with the Chicago Bears -- one of the first signings of free agency.
Like the Giants envisioned, Swift will be paired with Khalil Herbert in Chicago. The Eagles ended up signing Barkley to a three-year, $37.5 million deal while the Giants landed Devin Singletary on a three-year, $16.5 million deal.
Singletary will be paired with Eric Gray and Tyrone Tracy Jr., fifth-round picks in consecutive years. Certainly the Giants spent less money on running back and spent money on the offensive line with Jon Runyan and Jermaine Eluemunor.
Whether New York made a run at Swift or not, it turned out they could have gotten him out of Philadelphia.
