Saquon Barkley Laughs at 'Snakequon' Meme, Kevin Durant Comparison for Joining Eagles

After departing the New York Giants to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles in free agency, star running back Saquon Barkley expected to receive some pushback from fans, but he was still surprised by the vitriol his decision generated.

"I think I downplayed the situation. I think I did. I know I did," Barkley told The Athletic's Dianna Russini on this week's episode of Scoop City (34:30 mark). "And my manager, my whole management team, they were just like, 'this is going to stir up some s--t. And I never really, I was just like, 'Bro, it's not that deep, like, it's not that serious."

However, Barkley quickly learned that his thought process was naive. Fans on social media dubbed him "Snakequon" and compared him to NBA star Kevin Durant, who famously left the Oklahoma City Thunder to join the Golden State Warriors the same year the Warriors eliminated the Thunder from the playoffs.

The 27-year-old was able to find humor in the situation.

"For me, it was like, 'Alright, this is what it is. People will get it, people will understand.' But fanatics, like fans, like, no, it wasn't like that. It was like, 'You're a traitor. Snakequon.' That one's hilarious," he said. "I'm able to, like, see stuff and like, I love it. I love life. Like, I can laugh at stuff. There's like one meme, or not a meme, like, someone had me in an Eagles jersey and 26 and I was built as a snake, like, it was hilarious. I was like a snake. And it was like Snakequon. People were like saying, I'm worse than KD. I was like, I was sitting there, I was like, 'Wow' I was like, 'Is it that deep?'"

While signing with a rival team was sure to cause unhappiness among Giants fans, Barkley explained that his decision simply came down to the Eagles being willing to pay him what he feels he deserves. He likened the situation to people switching jobs in other fields:

"I didn't think it was like the magnitude that it had, like on my social media, Like I kind of downplayed that. And like I said, my manager, he was like, 'you're insane, like, this is going to be a big deal.' And because like, for me, I'm looking at it from a sane view, right? It's just like, if anybody has a job and you work at Applebee's, and you worked at Applebee's for a certain time, and you're like trying to get a new job at Applebee's and Applebee's is like, 'You know what? This is what we think you are. We'll let you go somewhere else. If you can go get more money, maybe we might match it.' And you go to Olive Garden and then Olive Garden, it gives you the amount of money that you want. And I don't know if Applebee's and Olive Garden are actually, like, you know, I'm just thinking of two restaurants, and then you go to Olive Garden and you get the money. And then Applebee's is like, 'Alright, we're good.' And you go to Olive Garden and just like, that happens in real world, like you switch jobs."

Now, Barkley will be facing his former team at least twice a year. The Eagles and Giants will meet for the first time this season in Week 7 in New York before closing things out in Week 18 against one another in Philadelphia.