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ESPN's Bart Scott Offers Blunt Opinion on Giants' Treatment of Saquon Barkley

Scott seems to take Barkley's side on what looks like a one-sided argument.
Patricia Traina|
ESPN's Bart Scott Offers Blunt Opinion on Giants' Treatment of Saquon Barkley
ESPN's Bart Scott Offers Blunt Opinion on Giants' Treatment of Saquon Barkley

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New York Giants

Former NFL linebacker Bart Scott has never held back from saying what's on his mind. On a recent appearance on ESPN's Get Up" with Mike Greenberg and Kimberley A. Martin, Scott didn't hesitate when asked if he thought the Giants should use the franchise tag on New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley. 

"No tag," Scott said without hesitating before adding, "(Giants general manager) Joe Schoen needs to just tell Saquon, 'Listen, man, we just not that into you.' You're out here treating Saquon like a sidepiece. They give him just enough to make him satisfied."

Barkley played last season on a modified one-year franchise tag after failing to reach an agreement on a multiyear deal with the Giants. According to numerous reports, the Giants had at least two offers on the table before it came to that, including one dating as far back as the 2022 bye week, which Barkley's representation at the time rejected, and two other deals that reportedly averaged $12.5 and $14 million per year.

The New York Post reported that the Giants wanted to sign Barkley to a three-year deal last year, with $23 million guaranteed over two years. However, Barkley's side turned down the offers.

Schoen told reporters at the end of this past season that he didn't want to get into the habit of using the franchise tag annually, even though he has it at his disposal to use on Barkley a second time if he so chooses.

If he does, that would cost the Giants approximately $12 million, an amount that would come straight out of the team's available salary cap regardless if the tag is signed and an amount that the Giants are not really in a position to carry for the entire year, unlike last season when carrying the $10.1 million franchise tag total was easier to carry.

Still, despite Scott's interesting analogy, signs have been pointing toward the Giants not using the franchise tag on Barkley for a second year in a row.

According to the Post, the Giants have conducted studies on the running back position. Those studies have revealed that most running backs can trend upward through the age of 26 but that once they turn 27 (as Barkley did on February 9), they usually decline.

Barkley, who has had injury issues in all but two of his NFL seasons (2018, his rookie campaign, and 2022), also has that working against him in a question to score one final big payday from an NFL team.

Schoen said in the past that he plans to sit with Barkley's representation to discuss a way for the former Penn State star's desire to remain a Giant for life. If the two sides come close to a deal by the end of the combine but don't quite wrap it up, it makes sense for the Giants to use the franchise tag on Barkley as a temporary placeholder while the final details get ironed out on a new deal.

In that instance, so long as the two sides reached a new deal by the start of the new league year (March 13), the Giants would then get back the difference between the franchise tag amount and whatever Barkley's first-year cap figure would be, just in time for free agency.

If the two sides do not come close to getting a deal done, the feeling is that the Giants will let the running back test what is projected to be a flooded veteran market at the position and see what kind of deal he can end up getting, with the agreement that he allows the Giants to match anything he gets on the open market.

That arrangement is one Barkley told the Post he'd be agreeable to doing.

Barkley was the Giants first-round pick, No. 2 overall in the 2018 draft. He's delivered three 1,000-yard rushing seasons for New York in 2018, 2019, and 2022, but he's also missed time due to injury in four of his six NFL campaigns. 

 

  

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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