Tag: Matt Barkley

Matt Barkley reflects on his 2011 USC season, why he came back for 2012

Matt Barkley talking to Jon Gruden in 2013 creates waves of nostalgia.

Matt Barkley had a decision to make after his 2011 USC football season. He could have come out for the 2012 NFL draft instead of staying another year at USC and waiting for the NFL. Yet, Barkley referred to “unfinished business” at USC as the reason for running it back with the Trojans.

Obviously, that decision did not work out for Barkley. USC was viewed before the 2012 season under then-coach Lane Kiffin as a major national contender, but the season fell apart, much as the 2023 campaign did for another quarterback — Caleb Williams — who stayed one more season instead of flying to the NFL. USC’s 2012 season ended in a miserable Sun Bowl loss to Georgia Tech. In 2013, Lane Kiffin was infamously “tarmac’d” after an ugly loss to Arizona State.

It is fascinating to look back at Barkley’s 2013 comments to Jon Gruden at the coach’s quarterback camp, if only because Caleb Williams is the latest USC quarterback to step into the NFL world and all the scrutiny that involves.

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Former USC QB Matt Barkley signs with Jacksonville Jaguars

Matt Barkley has another NFL team.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have signed quarterback Matt Barkley to the active roster from the New York Giants’ practice squad.

Barkley was originally picked by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round (No. 98) in the 2013 NFL draft. He has appeared in 19 games, starting six with Chicago and one with Buffalo since entering the NFL. Over the last 10 seasons, Barkley has spent time in Philadelphia, Arizona, Chicago, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Buffalo, Tennessee, Carolina, Atlanta and the New York Giants.

In his career, he has completed 212-of-363 passes for 2,699 yards and 11 touchdowns.

The Giants signed Barkley on Halloween this year to the practice squad. He was with the club’s active roster from Nov. 8 to Dec. 4 before being re-signed to the practice squad. With the emergence of Tommy DeVito and backup Tyrod Taylor on the roster, the Giants were able to move on from the former USC Trojan.

The Newport Beach, California, native played collegiately at USC (2009-12), where he recorded 1,001 completions for 12,327 yards and 116 touchdowns. During his junior year (2011), he finished sixth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy.

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Jaguars sign QB Matt Barkley off of Giants’ practice squad

The Jacksonville Jaguars have signed veteran QB Matt Barkley to their active roster from the New York Giants’ practice squad.

With quarterback Trevor Lawrence dealing with a sprained shoulder, the Jacksonville Jaguars went out and found some insurance on Tuesday, signing veteran Matt Barkley to their active roster from the New York Giants’ practice squad.

The 33-year-old Barkley was a fourth-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2013 NFL draft. He quickly became a journeyman, making stops with 10 different teams over his 11-year career, including two stints with the Buffalo Bills.

Barkley spent time on the Giants’ active roster and reserve unit this season but has not appeared in any games.

Had the Giants needed to call on Barkley, head coach Brian Daboll insisted he would have been ready.

“Yeah, he’s prepared,” Daboll said in mid-November. “He stays here late; we’ll be with him as much as we have to. I think Shae (Tierney) and (Mike) Kafka do a good job with those guys. They spend a lot of time with them, you know. DeVito, obviously a young player, and Matt is new, so a lot of work in that area.”

The Giants ultimately went with undrafted rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito under center, but he was benched in Week 16 and replaced by veteran Tyrod Taylor.

The Giants could seek to add another quarterback to their practice squad but may opt to finish out the season with just Taylor and DeVito in tow (barring another injury).

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Jaguars sign QB Matt Barkley from Giants practice squad

With Trevor Lawrence dealing with another injury, the Jaguars added an 11th year veteran to their active roster.

The Jacksonville Jaguars signed veteran quarterback Matt Barkley to their active roster from the New York Giants’ practice squad, the team announced Tuesday.

Barkley, 33, is now the oldest player on the Jaguars’ roster. The 2013 fourth-round pick has now been with 11 different NFL franchises, including two stints each with the Arizona Cardinals and Buffalo Bills. The 11th year veteran has appeared in just 19 career games and started only seven. His last pass attempt was during the 2020 season.

Jacksonville spent the majority of the 2023 season with two quarterbacks, Trevor Lawrence and C.J. Beathard, on the active roster and former CFL star Nathan Rourke on the practice squad. That changed last week when the New England Patriots scooped Rourke up off waivers.

To address the loss, the Jaguars signed E.J. Perry to their practice squad. But with Lawrence’s status in doubt due to yet another injury, the Jaguars now have three quarterbacks on the active roster. On Tuesday, coach Doug Pederson said it’s too early to tell if Lawrence will be able to play Sunday against the Carolina Panthers and doubted that he’d be able to practice Wednesday.

To make room for Barkley, the Jaguars placed special teamer Daniel Thomas, who broke his forearm Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, on injured reserve.

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Giants cut two quarterbacks with Tyrod Taylor designated to return from IR

The New York Giants have waived QB Matt Barkley and terminated QB Jacob Eason from their practice squad.

The New York Giants designated quarterback Tyrod Taylor to return from injured reserve (IR) on Monday, officially opening his 21-day practice window.

With expectations that Taylor will be active on Monday night against the Green Bay Packers (not necessarily starting), the Giants waived quarterback Matt Barkley, who had been serving as the backup to rookie Tommy DeVito.

The 33-year-old Barkley was a fourth-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2013 NFL draft. He quickly became a journeyman, making stops with nine different teams over his 11-year career, including two stints with the aforementioned Bills.

Barkley was initially signed to the Giants’ practice squad before landing on the active roster after Daniel Jones suffered a torn ACL and was placed on season-ending IR.

The Giants also terminated quarterback Jacob Eason, who had been signed in early November, from their practice squad.

The Giants are likely to sign Barkley back to their practice squad, filling the void left by Eason, assuming he clears waivers.

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Giants’ Brian Daboll says Matt Barkley is ‘prepared’ if called upon

If QB Matt Barkley is forced to step in for whatever reason, New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll is confident he’ll be ready.

Tommy DeVito, an undrafted free agent rookie, is the current starting quarterback for the New York Giants. He wasn’t their first, or even second, choice, but he’s the starter now.

DeVito was the backup to the backup, which meant the Giants had to go find a new backup, which they did when they signed Matt Barkley to the practice squad before adding him to the active roster.

Barkley hasn’t recorded a stat in the NFL since 2020. He’s a career backup who’s played for eight different teams in nine seasons. He spent last season backing up Josh Allen in Buffalo, so it’s not as if he’s out of football shape. But is he ready for the field?

The Giants quarterbacks sit behind one of the worst offensive lines in the league, so the likelihood that Barkley gets in the game is high. And if he does, head coach Brian Daboll says he’ll be ready.

“Yeah, he’s prepared,” Daboll told reporters this week. “He stays here late; we’ll be with him as much as we have to. I think Shae (Tierney) and (Mike) Kafka do a good job with those guys. They spend a lot of time with them, you know. DeVito, obviously a young player, and Matt is new, so a lot of work in that area.”

The problem with this response is that Daboll is never going to say he’s not ready to the public. That’s something they would discuss privately, but it also doesn’t mean he’s lying. Barkley very likely is ready for the field, and as a nine-year veteran, his knowledge of the game can do nothing but help DeVito.

Barkley was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Since then, he has bounced around the league as a backup. His last recorded stats are from five games played for the Bills in 2020, where he threw for 197 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and was sacked once.

While the hope is that nothing happens to take DeVito out of the game, if that time should come, Barkley is truly ready to take the helm.

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Former Bills QB Matt Barkley lands on Giants’ 53-man roster

Former #Bills QB Matt Barkley lands on #Giants’ 53-man roster:

Injuries have piled up for the New York Giants at the quarterback position.

So much so, former Buffalo Bills quarterback Matt Barkley is on an active roster for the first time in a long time.

Barkley, 33, signed to the Giants’ practice squad prior to the team’s Week 9 matchup. During their 30-6 blowout loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, starting quarterback Daniel Jones made his return to the lineup only to leave again… this time for the remainder of the season.

Jones tore his ACL and is out for the year. Backup Tommy DeVito is slated to start now as top backup and other former Bills QB in NY, Tyrod Taylor (ribs), is also out. But in a matter of a few short weeks, Barkley has gone from free agent looking for work to one snap away from starting in New York.

This past summer, Barkley sustained an elbow injury while with the Bills during the preseason and was placed on injured reserve. At the end of the summer, Barkley was released via injury settlement.

Since then, Buffalo has opted to keep Shane Buechele as their defacto No. 3 quarterback on the practice squad behind starter Josh Allen and backup Kyle Allen.

Depending on the details of the injury settlement, the Bills would be unable to sign Barkley until a certain about of time has passed. Regardless, he’s gotten a much better scenario in front of him with the Giants since he could be seeing meaningful NFL snaps soon.

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Flood of Giants QB injuries could give Matt Barkley a late-career NFL opportunity

Matt Barkley has a real chance to get some starts with the Giants.

Matt Barkley is back in the NFL, as you might have noticed several days ago.

Giants Wire has been following the parade of quarterback injuries the New York Giants have suffered this season.

Daniel Jones suffered a neck injury a few weeks ago and now he’s out for the season with a torn ACL. Tyrod Taylor (ribs) is also injured, and it is unclear if he will return this season.

Former Syracuse quarterback Tommy DeVito is now the guy for the Giants. He completed 15 of 20 pass attempts for 175 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions while gaining 17 rushing yards on four carries on November 5 against the Las Vegas Raiders. If he struggles or gets hurt, Matt Barkley will enter the chat.

Barkley, 33, entered the NFL as the Philadelphia Eagles’ fourth-round draft choice in 2013. He has since spent time with Arizona (twice), Chicago, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Buffalo (twice), Tennessee, Carolina and Atlanta. He has played for the Eagles, Bears and Bills.

He has completed 212 out of 363 pass attempts (58.4 percent) for 2,699 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 22 interceptions. He has played in 19 career games with seven starts.

If Tommy DeVito is the only man standing between Barkley and a chance to make some NFL starts later this season, the odds are good Barkley will get at least one opportunity to start for Big Blue and make a favorable impression on an NFL club.

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Giants’ Daniel Jones to IR, QB Matt Barkley signed to active roster

The New York Giants are placing QB Daniel Jones (knee) on IR and are signing QB Matt Barkley to their active roster.

The New York Giants are signing quarterback Matt Barkley from the practice squad.

Barkley will assume the roster spot left vacant by quarterback Daniel Jones, who is headed to season-ending IR after tearing his right ACL in last week’s 30-6 loss to the Raiders in Las Vegas.

Barkley was signed to the practice squad last week by the Giants, who were down a quarterback due to the rib injury to backup Tyrod Taylor.

Taylor is currently on IR and will miss the next three games.

The plan at quarterback is for third-stringer Tommy DeVito to start — at least this week — with Barkley as the primary backup and Jacob Eason, who is expected to be signed to the practice squad this week, as the emergency quarterback.

Barkley is familiar with the Giants’ offensive system as he has a relationship with head coach Brian Daboll going back to 2018 when both were with the Buffalo Bills.

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Brian Daboll won’t commit to Tommy DeVito as Giants’ starter

The New York Giants are running low at QB and more change may be brewing as Brian Daboll won’t commit to Tommy DeVito as the starter.

The New York Giants officially lost quarterback Daniel Jones for the season on Sunday with a torn ACL and with backup Tyrod Taylor (ribs) on IR and out for at least three more games, Big Blue is scarily thin under center at the moment.

Third-stringer Tommy DeVito, an undrafted rookie, took over for Jones after DJ injured his knee at the end of the first quarter and gave us a preview of what to expect the next month.

It wasn’t pretty. The Giants scored just six points and DeVito was sacked six times. The only progress he made was during ‘garbage time.’ So much for Plan C.

On Monday, head coach Brian Daboll had few answers for the media about the team’s quarterback plans for the rest of the season.

“Well, we have DeVito,” Daboll said with what has to be very little confidence. “(Matt) Barkley’s on the practice squad. We have been back for less than 12 hours, so, I’ll have some meetings today with Joe (Schoen) as the day goes on, and we’ll see where it goes.”

Where it goes can’t be anywhere worse than where it’s been. The Giants’ quarterback plan has been completely flattened by injuries and they are running on fumes.

DeVito is the closest thing the Giants have to any type of normalcy and he’s still trying to find his way. Daboll would not commit to DeVito because he knows you can’t compete in this quarterback-driven league without at least a pro-level quarterback.

“I think Tommy did a good job, but again I’m not going to give you one thing and it’s a different thing,” said Daboll. “I have confidence in Tommy. He’s done a good job. But I’ll sit down and talk with Joe and figure out what’s next.”

What’s next is probably a three- or four-win season and possibly a top two or three pick in next year’s NFL draft. That means they will be starring a t a top quarterback prospect.

The writing is on the wall. The Giants will have to move on from Jones’ $160 million contract and all. He’s had five years to prove himself and, let’s face it, hasn’t really gotten there.

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