Are the Vikings a good fit for Saquon Barkley?
Could adding a two-time, 27-year-old running back be the final piece of the Vikings offensive puzzle?
That's what Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report argued Wednesday in looking for the top destinations for Giants running back Saquon Barkley.
"If [Kirk] Cousins comes back, Barkley could be the final piece for one of the best skill-position groups in the league," said Ballentine. "If the Vikings turn to a young quarterback, having a strong ground game will become even more important. The Vikings have opted for a 'competitive rebuild' approach over tearing things down completely. They face a serious quarterback dilemma this offseason, but signing Barkley would raise the floor of the offense."
While the Vikings had the fifth-best passing offense in the league this season their running game was incredibly lackluster, finishing 29th in yards. Alexander Mattison was handed the RB1 keys in the offseason after the team parted ways with Dalvin Cook. Mattison did not pick up the torch rushing for 700 yards, averaging 3.9 yards a touch, and zero touchdowns.
Ty Chandler, a fifth-round pick in the 2022 draft, showed some potential late in the season, but struggled to gain the coaching staff's trust due to shoddy pass blocking.
Jan 15, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley (26) runs onto the field before a wild card game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium.
© Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Barkley has been a workhorse since entering the league as the second-overall pick in the 2018 draft. He has rushed for 5,211 yards in those six seasons, though his 2020 season was limited to just two games due to injuries. More importantly he's also been a weapon in the passing game, catching 288 passes for 2,100 yards.
Figuring out the cost of Barkley, who is sure to want a big payday, will be the tricky part. The Giants are not expected to use the franchise-tag on Barkley, leaving him to become a free agent this offseason. Teams across the league showed last year a general unwillingness to hand out pricey contracts to a position that has an incredibly short shelf life.
Balentine isn't the first to throw out the idea. Purple Insider's Matthew Coller proposed such a move last week when discussing how the Vikings could build their roster if Kirk Cousins did return. Coller's idea was to go all-in on offense and had Barkley as the key piece in that plan.
"We're going to run, we're going to throw a screen," Coller said. "We're going to throw it two yards in the air and have it run for 20 more because Saquon Barkley can still play. That poor man was given the worst offensive line last year, it was just disastrous in New York. He should have tried to find some other place."
"Saquon is an impact player beyond just the run game. I think he can be [an impact player] in the pass game as well. And if you're going to make it work you have to make it work with all aspects of this game, not just the passing game. The best offense the Vikings had with Kirk was 2019 when they could run and pass, so we're loading up to run the football."
The Saquon Barkley conversation starts at the 22-minute mark in the video below...
Minnesota had the 10th best run blocking unit in the league in 2023 according to PFF while Barkley's Giants finished with the third worst unit. The Vikings were given a 65.0 run blocking grade while the Giants finished 2023 with a putrid 41.1 grade.
In two less games played than 2022, Barkley averaged 3.9 yards-per-attempt for a Giants team that finished with a 6-10 record.
Barkley has never had the game changing receivers that Minnesota have currently. It's an extreme longshot due to the cap situation the Vikings find themselves in. It would, however, be a dream scenario for whoever winds up as the QB in Minnesota.
"As long as the Vikings get competent quarterback play, it's going to be hard to stop an offense that has wideouts Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, tight end T.J. Hockenson and Barkley," continued Ballentine. "Bringing on the star back would give Minnesota flexibility at quarterback because the offense will be powered by a supercharged group of skill players."
