Giants GM offers insight into Saquon Barkley's contract negotiation
The New York Giants were up against the clock just a few weeks ago. The franchise tag deadline was looming, and the team had neither Daniel Jones nor Saquon Barkley under contract for 2023. In the final minutes, New York extended Jones and tagged Barkley, seemingly solving their biggest issue and keeping their star-studded backfield […]
The New York Giants were up against the clock just a few weeks ago. The franchise tag deadline was looming, and the team had neither Daniel Jones nor Saquon Barkley under contract for 2023.
In the final minutes, New York extended Jones and tagged Barkley, seemingly solving their biggest issue and keeping their star-studded backfield in-tact.
Fast forward to this week, and the annual league owner's meetings are proving to be rich in content, this time by way of stirring the pot from the owner and GM of the Giants alike.
Now we know how much the team values Barkley and how dynamic a player he can be when he plays a full season, much like last year.
A Pro Bowler in 2022, Barkley accumulated 1,650 yards from scrimmage and 10 touchdowns, proving to be the main cog in the engine that was the New York offense.
So tagging him with the intent of hammering out a long-term deal was always the most obvious choice, given the deadlines.
Per Dan Graziano of ESPN:
"Barkley is scheduled to play the 2023 season on a one-year franchise tag of $10.091 million," said Graziano. "But under the rules of the collective bargaining agreement, the Giants have until July 15 to sign Barkley to a long-term deal before the start of the season."
Giants owner John Mara understands this, stating the following at the owner's meetings:
"I told Saquon we want him to be a Giant for his entire career," Mara said. "He provides leadership, he's a great player and we'd like to be able to get something done with him at some point. The running back market is what it is right now, but I'm still hopeful at some point we will come to an agreement."
GM Joe Schoen echoed similar sentiments when it came to Barkley, but he went a little deeper into what's been going on behind the scenes, stating:
"There's no outstanding offer right now," Schoen said. "Once we put the franchise tag on him, we stepped back. We knew throughout the negotiation that there was going to be a time where, if we couldn't come to an agreement, we were going to go to the franchise tag, and that's what we did."
The first sentence of that quote came off as surprising to many.
The Giants and Barkley are clearly at an impasse, but to have no current offer seems confounding given the clear rhetoric that the team wants Barkley back.
What happens next?
Your guess is as good as mine. No player wants to play on the tag, but no front office wants to shelve out big money to the most volatile position in football.
Maybe both sides just needed a break, and given the deal doesn't have to be done until July, New York may follow a similar approach to the buzzer-beater they hit at the tag deadline.
So hold on tight Giants fans, you may be in for a bumpy ride.
