PFF Ranks Giants RB Saquon Barkley in Top 30 Pending UFAs

After drafting him second overall in 2018, the future of the union between the New York Giants and running back Saquon Barkley is cloudy at best.

The Giants could use the franchise tag on the running back to control his rights, a very likely possibility to buy more time in working toward a deal, which, if none is reached, they could seek a tag-and-trade scenario for Barkley, who finished this season with just under 1,000 yards rushing behind a makeshift offensive line.

But if the Giants decide not to go that route, Barkley, whom Pro Football Focus ranked as its 29th-best pending unrestricted free agent (one spot ahead of Las Vegas running back Josh Jacobs), could have plenty of interest.

Barkley's ranking speaks to the talent most people around the league think Barkley still maintains. Barkley ranking that high out of so many players is also noteworthy, as he and Jacobs may have ranked higher on the list if NFL owners hadn't devalued the running back position over the last few seasons.

Barkley has missed games due to injury in all but two seasons, his rookie campaign and 2022, when the lone game he missed was a coach's decision to bench the starters ahead of the postseason.

Despite falling short of 1,000 rushing yards in 2023 and not being the receiving threat he was as a rookie, Barkley, all by his lonesome, provided the Giants with its lone consistent threat to move the chains, accounting for just over 28 percent of the team's most explosive plays.

He's also been a stand-up locker room citizen who has represented the face of the franchise well and is so popular among his teammates that they voted him a team captain and rushed to his defense about not having landed his big payday just yet.

But there is a lingering question with Barkley, who sees himself as much more than just a runner, a sentiment the Giants didn't appear to share. If the Giants decide to move him via a tag-and-trade, does the rest of the league view him as such, putting him in a similar category as San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey as a viable dual threat, or is Barkley destined to be pigeonholed as just a runner who can occasionally be a threat out of the backfield?

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