Giants Fans Vote on What Team Should with Pending UFA Saquon Barkley
It’s been almost a year since the New York Giants and star running back Saquon Barkley came together despite their differences and were able to extend their partnership on the offensive side of the ball, placing the former No. 2 overall pick on the non-exclusive franchise tag and playing it out after it was adjusted to include additional money that July before training camp.
In a case of deja vu, the two sides will return to the negotiating table for a second round of conversations on a new deal later this month at the scouting combine in Indianapolis, the hope being that a win-win can be reached for both sides.
If that doesn't happen, the Giants have the franchise tag at their disposal, a mechanism they'd have to use by March 5.
But should they bother? After all, if they apply the tag, roughly $12.419 million comes right out of their already slim $14,014,144 of effective cap space, which is what they can afford to spend to fit players under the Top 51 rule that begins March 13, the start of the new league year.
The overall feeling emerging of late is that if the Giants and Barkley cannot get a deal done by the March 5 tagging deadline, the Giants will simply let Barkley go out and find a deal with another team but request that he give them a chance to match it, a proposal that, when pitched to Barkley from the New York Post, the running back seemed agreeable to.
But as far as Giants fans who took part in a recent poll run by Giants Country publisher Patricia Traina, a whopping 69.8 percent opined that the team would be better off letting Barkley walk away.
The poll results seem to align with how the Giants front office handles the game of hardball with Barkley. General manager Joe Schoen has spoken about the team looking into all the options in front of them and working with Barkley to produce the best outcome at the best price, albeit he has made it clear that it has to be in the team's best interest moving forward.
Barkley has proven himself to be a piece that takes attention away from the rest of the offense and forces the defense to account for him because of his game-wrecking ability, leaving the chance for big plays to be made down the field.
Even behind a mediocre offensive line for most of his tenure, Barkley has almost single-handedly carried the Giants' rushing department and kept it respectable with his three 1,000-yard campaigns that have added 27 touchdowns. He navigated one of the worst blocking units in football to still earn the eighth most carries in the league while posting 962 yards (including six games of at least 80 rushing yards). He also added 280 receiving yards and four scores.
Barkley has an important face in the Giants locker room and is widely respected by his teammates as one of their leaders. A handful of these teammates have spoken publicly about the desire to have their top running back return to the fold in 2024 because they admire his leadership and feel it provides them a better chance to win when he’s in the backfield.
But in getting back to the poll results, if the Giants were to let Barkley walk away, they risk getting nothing in return for a player who has arguably been their best offensive weapon. While some may think a 2025 comp pick would be forthcoming if he were to sign with another club, that's not a guarantee, as if the Giants go on a major free-agent signing spree, there is a chance of an incoming signing canceling out a Barkley departure.
And even if the Giants were to get a comp pick, they wouldn't be able to use it until 2025, which doesn't help their current rebuild plans. New York, remember, is not projected to get any comp picks this year. They have just seven draft picks and a lot of needs coupled with a modest amount of money to spend in free agency (before any contract restructuring is done).
That said, it does feel as though it's getting closer to the point where it feels like the writing is on the wall for Barkley, and the front office isn’t going to align with that viewpoint of “pay the man” that some within the organization are calling for.
The running back market has taken a hit in recent seasons as teams identify and acknowledge the timetable of the average running back, and it’s led to many like Barkley struggling to get the deals they want.
And for the Giants, does it make sense to invest big money in a running back when they need to figure out the long-term plan at quarterback and look to build more around that position?
Again, the Giants brass expects to meet with Barkley's agents from CAA during the combine and see if they can't reach the middle ground that eluded them last year. If they can't and the Giants decide to use the tag, it wouldn't be surprising if the team and its star running back part ways.
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