What the Christian McCaffrey Trade Means for the Giants and Saquon Barkley

The 1-5 Carolina Panthers have begun to offload the pricey contracts of star players, such as receiver Robbie Anderson and, most recently, running back Christian McCaffrey, the latter of whom was traded yesterday to the 49ers in exchange for the 49ers' second-, third- and fourth-round picks in 2023 and a 2024 fifth-round pick.

The McCaffrey trade raises questions about whether it makes sense for the Giants to look move Saquon Barkley, whose production this year has been better than that of the 26-year-old McCaffrey, before the November 1 deadline.

It doesn’t.

Yes, Barkley is in the final year of his contract, the Giants having exercised his option year. And yes, it’s probably not a good idea to give Barkley, who does have an injury history, a contract that makes him the top-paid running back in the NFL, not with quarterback Daniel Jones also up for renewal after this year, and not with guys like offensive tackle Andrew Thomas, defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence, and safety Xavier McKinney all eligible to have their respective rookie deals extended after this season.

So what does make sense for the Giants? Barkley is currently the offense's focal point, with 771 all-purpose yards through six games. He’s the team’s rushing leader, with 616 yards on 119 carries and four rushing touchdowns (5.2 yards per carry average). And he’s the team’s reception leader with 21 catches for 155 yards.

The Giants, unlike the Panthers, are well into Year 1 of their re-build under head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen. The Panthers are starting from scratch again next year with a new head coach and, who knows, perhaps even new leadership if owner David Tepper truly wants a fresh start.

While it might be tempting for the Giants to look to move Barkley given the haul Carolina got for McCaffrey, at some point, a re-building team has to identify its core pieces to the foundation and stand pat. Through six games in this new offense, Barkley has proven he’s a core piece.

So what about a contract? Spotrac proposed a 4-year, $23.894 million deal for Barkley, which averages out to $5.9 million per year and is based on comparable players such as Austin Ekleler of the Chargers, Kareem Hunt of the Browns, Leonard Fournette of the Bucs, and James Conner of the Cardinals.

Such a deal, if Barkley were to agree to something in that range, could be structured in such a way to allow the Giants to get out of it after two seasons when Barkley will have turned 27. It can also give the Giants flexibility needed to stack new deals for Jones (if he’s getting one), Lawrence (who is under contract through 2023), McKinney (signed through 2023), and Thomas (whose option year will almost certainly be picked up which would put him under contract through 2024).

At the same time, if Barkley continues to stay healthy and play at the level he’s currently playing, the offense will have a key piece moving forward rather than a hole that would need to be filled--just as the Giants had had to do when they were forced to let cornerback James Bradberry go due to their salary cap situation.

While it’s true that the Giants have a lot of holes they still need to fill and could benefit from a McCaffrey-like haul of draft picks, the Giants already have seven draft picks (they have two seventh-round picks and no sixth). They are also projected to be getting an extra sixth (for losing OLB Lorenzo Carter) and an extra seventh (for losing DB Keion Crossen), which would bring their pick total to nine, two shy of what they had this year.

If the Giants want to remain competitive, Barkley has shown that he needs to be a part of the team. But of course, it all depends on Schoen’s philosophy and how close he feels this team is to being one that can make some noise should it get to the postseason.

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