Perspectives: The “Much Ado About Nothing" Disease
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According to former NFL general manager turned media personality Michael Lombardi, the New York Giants have a locker room problem he’s coined the “Disease of Me” this off-season, one that he’s urging head coach Brian Daboll to get out in front of ASAP.
This notion, reresulting from the news that running back Saquon Barkley and defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence plan to skip the start of the off-season program that opens Monday while their respective contracts are sorted out, is, arguably the very definition of a hot take:
As we all know, Barkley is hoping to get a long-term contract extension instead of having to play on the franchise tag. Right now, however, that doesn’t appear to be happening—not as long as Barkley wants Christian McCaffrey money.
If that’s indeed the case—and that he turned down a Giants offer reportedly reaching upward of $13 million per year would seem to validate that point—then Barkley and his agent better sit down and recap what’s been happening in the running back market this year because no one has gotten that kind of money, not with a deep rookie class set to his the league in two weeks.
In staying away from the off-season program—which, by the way, is not only VOLUNTARY but also given that he’s not under contract, the team could ban him from the building since he’s not technically considered an employee at this time and to have him on-site working out increases their liability risk if he were to suffer an injury Unless he signed the "Offseason Workout Program and Minicamp Participation Agreement for Player Under Tender or Club's Own Unrestricted Free Agent" agreement, which if he did would remove any leverage he has—Barkley is trying to use what little leverage he thinks he has by working out on his own ahead of when he eventually does have before the July 17 deadline to strike a new long-term deal comes.
Is Barkley feeling underappreciated by the team, considering he’s been the face of the franchise and the motor of the offense when he’s been healthy? Maybe, but he wouldn’t be the first employee to harbor those feelings, nor does any bruised ego change the fact that the market isn’t there for running backs and that the Giants have tried to allocate resources to ensure that the team can up its competition level this year.
But if Barkley were that disgruntled with the Giants, if he had thoughts of sitting out the season, if he were jealous that Daniel Jones got paid, then why show up at Jones’s passing camp a couple of weeks ago out in Arizona to work out with his teammates?
I think that Barkley is doing what was expected all along the minute the tag was applied to him. What I think is that he’s not going to get much more than $12-$13 million per year on an offer from the Giants this year—and I question if the Giants are going to be able to even afford that given their current salary cap situation, which is a topic for another article.
The way this is likely to play out is this. Barkley is going to sign the tag once the July 17 deadline passes. He will gamble on himself to have an even better season than last year. Then he will look to parlay that into the payday he desires, which may or may not come from the Giants, who could have other players to consider for the franchise tag next year, such as safety Xavier McKinney.
Lawrence? For those who don’t know, the Giants have been trying to extend their best defensive player from last season to lower his $12+ million cap hit while also rewarding one of their team co-captains from last year with a fair-value deal.
That Lawrence is reportedly planning to skip the VOLUNTARY off-season program is not a big deal. It’s not posturing. It’s not Lawrence being selfish. It’s common sense. Lawrence has undoubtedly seen the market rate for interior defensive linemen, and he wants to be paid accordingly.
Some might argue that Lawrence is violating his contract. That is not the case, at least not right now. If Lawrence skips the mandatory minicamp set for June—and hopefully, his contract will be settled by then—he’s subject to a fine. Otherwise, he’s within his right to stay away if he feels that’s best.
The NFL is a business—it always has been and always will be, and Lombardi knows this as a former general manager. He also probably knows that the market this year has seen defensive linemen get paid while running backs have seen their market tank.
In the end, I fully believe that Lawrence and Barkley will show up when it counts, both will be ready for the start of the 2023 season when it counts, and both will build off their respective solid seasons from a year ago.
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