Saquon Barkley drops $10,000,000 update on NFL future after failed negotiations with Giants
Saquon Barkley did not get the contract he wanted and had to settle for the franchise tag. There was a question about whether he would want to be involved after being the best player last season for the New York Giants and being an important cog in their playoff run. He was the fourth-highest rushing player in the league last season.
After the acrimony that came to pass, there were legitimate doubts about whether he will go and play this season or hold out. But given that he in his prime years, he would not want to sit out and miss the money that one gets from playing.
And Saquon Barkley has come out and said that he is leaning towards the latter line of reasoning, saying that he has 10.1 million reasons to play.
That number is, of course, the franchise tag value for the running back position. Speaking about that, he said:
"I can't hit the free agent market for another two years, because you could tag me twice. So if I do what I got to do this year, which I plan on doing, they could tag me again. So you could have a certain running back for a low price for seven years. And we're the one that take the most mileage."
He confirmed that he is taking a practical decision and for all intents and purposes the loyalty factor is gone. Saquon Barkley noted that his contribution to the Giants was on nearly a third of the total offense. He confirmed he is going to be back for the 2023 season and then he will re-evaluate his options again. He said:
"But if you ever tune into a New York Giants game or a Giants game this year, there's times where I have 40 touches. And there's a point in time in the season where I was 40% of offense, I finished, I think I finished around 30% of offense production for our team. I mean, if you don't got to be a math major, that's a lot. That's a lot of reduction for the team."
Saquon Barkley adds that he got an offer from the Giants in the 2022 NFL season bye week
Saquon Barkley also revealed that the New York Giants offered him a contract extension last season during the bye week. But the numbers were on the lower side, he hinted, because he had a history of injuries and they did not know how he was going to hold up.
The running back says that he rejected that offer because he knew how good he felt in his own body and was willing to take a bet on a big season. He accomplished that but they did not come to an agreement just how valuable he was for the franchise. He said:
“The number that they offered, they thought I was going to jump at it given my injury history.”
He also made it clear that he is sure that when the next bargaining negotiations come up between the NFLPA and NFL next time, the franchise tag is going to be a topic of discussion. The ability of the teams to unilaterally hold a player at a pre-negotiated price set by the league without any player input might not be considered a free choice.
But that moment will come more than half a decade down the line. Until then, Saquon Barkley will have to, quite literally, gamely shoulder on.