Joe Schoen Offers Update on Saquon Barkley Contract Talks

Now that New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen has successfully wrapped up contract talks with defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence on a four-year, $90 million extension, the next player he obviously would like to get signed to a long-term deal is running back Saquon Barkley.

Those contract talks, however, have reportedly been progressing at a snail's pace as the two sides are thought to be still far apart regarding their understanding of Barkley's value.

But that doesn't mean that Schoen, who told reporters at the NFL owners meeting at the end of March that the team had pulled its initial contract offer to Barkley off the table after applying the franchise tag, isn't willing to keep the lines of communication open.

"Yeah, we talked with his representatives last week," Schoen confirmed during an interview with Good Morning Football on Thursday.

"We had initial talks on where we might be in terms of numbers or trying to get something done, what the appetite is to, to get a deal done. And we said, 'Hey, we'll step back, let the draft take place, and then we'll circle back up.' So at some point over the next couple of days, we'll circle back up."

The Giants offered Barkley a deal averaging $12.5 million last year at the bye that he turned down. It was believed the deal was still on the table in the lead-up to free agency.

But when the team managed to strike a deal with quarterback Daniel Jones before the start of free agency and had made no progress in talks with Barkley toward a multi-year deal, the Giants, also seeing how the market for running backs failed to materialize, used the franchise tag worth $10.1 million on the former Penn State star.

Barkley has since responded by refusing to sign the franchise tag, making him ineligible to report to the team's headquarters to participate in the off-season program that resumes next week. And if Barkley continues to refuse to sign the tag, he cannot be fined for missing any mandatory team activities.

The two sides have until July 17 to reach a new deal. Absent that happening, Barkley, who likely wouldn't have gotten much playing time in the preseason games, could continue his holdout by skipping training camp and then signing the tag a few days before the start of the regular season.

The Giants are hoping it doesn't get to that point, but Schoen is also not about to overspend on a position where the team just added fifth-round pick Eric Gray to the mix.

"Listen, Saquon's a very good football player. He was a captain last year, he's a good locker room guy, and I love him," Schoen said. "We want him to be here, but you gotta have a deal where both parties are happy with where you end up, and that's what we're gonna try to work for and see if we can get something both agree on."

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