NEW YORK — Saquon Barkley can’t say when his surgically repaired right knee will be back to full strength.
“I have no expectation, no set day when I’m going to be full go,” Barkley said Wednesday.
But he seemed to indicate that his contract situation won’t keep him out when he’s good to go.
“When it comes to the contract situation, that’s something that’s not even crossing my mind,” Barkley said Wednesday when asked if he would play without a new deal. “I have an amazing agent. Those are things that I have conversations with her about. But for me right now, the only thing I’m focusing on is coming here and working my butt off to get ready as soon as I can so when I’m out there, I’m not just 100 percent, I am 110 percent and I can perform to the best of my ability for my team.”
In other words, Barkley’s contract is a topic of conversation, but he doesn’t consider it a concern.
Co-owner John Mara said in March that he hopes Barkley will be “a Giant for life,” but he also said the Giants are “not in any hurry” to get a new contract done for his running back.
That was a stronger tone than Mara had used previously on the topic, and being in “no hurry” with Barkley stood in stark contrast to the Giants’ big spending in free agency on others.
Barkley saw good friend Odell Beckham Jr. traded by the Giants just seven months after signing a $95 million long-term deal, so he knows there are no guarantees here. Still, he was aware of Mara’s “Giant for life” comment, and he said he didn’t take it lightly.
“Hearing the owner come out and … basically speaking on longevity and seeing me here in the future, that means a lot,” Barkley said. “This is the place that drafted me. It’s a special place to me. And it’s an honor and privilege to be able to put on the blue and white and come out as a Giant.”
The Giants picked up Barkley’s fifth-year option for the 2022 season already, which was a no-brainer. And Mara said in that same interview in March that “at the appropriate time we’ll start those discussions,” acknowledging it’s on the horizon.
But recent history indicates that anything can change or evolve.
On Wednesday, actually, when Barkley was asked directly if he would play without a new contract, the first word out of his mouth was “no.” But the rest of his answer indicated he was saying no to the suggestion of a holdout, no in direct answer to that hypothetical.
A follow-up for Barkley then: “When you said ‘no’ at the start of the answer, that wasn’t an answer to my question, you were just dismissing the notion that you would —” …
Barkley interjected: “Yeah, yeah.”
Playing nice, at least for now. Something to monitor with Barkley, though, as far when the Giants intend to pay him, what they plan to pay him, and whether Barkley ultimately will sign a long-term contract with the team that drafted him when this is all said and done.
