New York Giants RB Saquon Barkley Shares His Short-Term Goals

With his Giants' future up in the air, Saquon Barkley is focusing on controlling what he can control.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Jul 29, 2022 8:00 AM EDT

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According to Statista, the average career length of an NFL player is 3.3 years, and for a running back, it’s even less, at 2.57 years.

That’s a rather sobering thought for players like New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley, who is getting ready to start his fifth NFL season and a very big one.

As a rookie in 2018, Barkley showed the world why he was worthy of being the second overall pick in that year’s draft. Since then, he has struggled with injuries and his deployment in the offense.

But rather than give up on him, the Giants continue to keep their faith in the now 25-year-old Barkley, believing that he can once again be that rookie version of himself in which he logged over 2,000 all-purpose yards as both a rusher and receiver.

For his part, Barkley recognizes the pressure and is determined to reward the franchise’s faith in him rather than worry about his financial future.

“I just want to show the Giants the guy they drafted is still here,” Barkley told reporters Thursday.

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It sure would behoove him to do so. Barkley is currently in the option year of his contract, his long-term future up in the air. Recent history around the league--Todd Gurley of the Rams and Christian McCaffrey of the Panthers both come to mind--has shown that it’s probably not a wise investment of cap dollars to tie up big money in a position where injuries lead to short shelf lives.

If Barkley can have anything close to the season the team thinks he’s capable of producing, maybe they’d consider making an exception for him.

“Obviously, that stuff is in the air,” Barkley said when asked about his contract status. “My thing is--and I keep saying it--if I take care of the little things and God blesses me, and nothing crazy happens, I think the rest will take care of itself.

“I know where I am at mentally, and I know where I am at physically. I know what I am capable of doing. I have to focus on taking care of my mind, try to be the best teammate I can be every single day, and when the time comes, it’s going to pay off.”

Barkley and the rest of his teammates have been r-energized by head coach Brian Daboll and his staff and the roster building by general manager Joe Schoen. While the Giants are probably at least a year away from being a postseason contender, there is a universal feeling that the arrow is headed in the right direction.

After four losing seasons, Barkley would like to be very much a part of things when the tide eventually does turn.

“I mean, that’s what you hope, right? You hope to come to a spot, whenever that may be and when you are done with that spot, make it better than what it was when you came in,” he said.

“I’m confident in our coaching staff and confident in everyone in the building--just the system that we have in place. You can’t get too caught up in the wins and losses right now. You have to focus on taking care of every single day.

"I know I sound like a broken record, or I know I sound like this is what coach Dabs is saying, or this is what everyone is saying, but I truly believe that. I truly believe if you focus on the little things day by day, the rest is going to take care of itself.”