It came down to the wire but once the New York Giants reached a long-term agreement with quarterback Daniel Jones, it allowed them to place the franchise tag on running back Saquon Barkley.
Receiving the franchise tag means that Barkley will count for $10.01M against the salary cap this year. However, the Giants would like to get their star running back a new deal for numerous reasons, including sending a message to the locker room by rewarding Barkley with a new deal following his 2022 comeback campaign.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler recently talked about the situation on SportsCenter.
They definitely have high interest in bringing him back either on the tag or a long-term deal. But GM Joe Schoen said at the Owners Meetings this week that they had pulled the offer they made to Saquon before they placed the franchise tag on him. Now, I talked to some teams who believe that’s a reaction to the sagging running back market. All of the top free agents, (David Montgomery, Miles Sanders) struggled to get those big-money deals. So that could affect things a little bit if Barkley had a deal of say $12 or $13 million per year on the table, maybe that’s not there anymore. But he’s an elite player. They want to set a tone in the locker room that they want to keep their top guys. So, they could push to find a sweet spot in the next few months of negotiation.
The Giants’ new general manager/ head coach combo has flipped the script on the team’s culture after just one season and retaining their own would certainly continue the culture build.
Although no offer is on the table right now, the Giants and Barkley have until July 15th to come to a new deal. Otherwise, Barkley would play on the franchise tag.
Barkley was a pivotal part of the Giants’ success in 2022 putting up over 1,600 yards from scrimmage and 10 touchdowns while finally staying healthy.
The Giants would love to have Barkley be a major reason for their success for years to come.
