Getty Images Saquon Barkley won't join the Giants for voluntary offseason workouts. Who's joining him?
The New York Giants will enter a new phase of the offseason without their two biggest difference-makers.
Both running back Saquon Barkley and defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence will skip the team’s voluntary offseason workout program beginning on April 17, according to Paul Schwartz of the New York Post.
Barkley’s and Lawrence’s holdouts come “as no surprise” to the team, per Schwartz. Head coach Brian Daboll nearly predicted he’d be without some players because of “the business side,” he told reporters at the league meetings in late March in Phoenix.
“I’ve been in this long enough — there’s a business side to it, there’s a playing side to it,” Daboll said. “My focus is on today. Whatever situation comes up, we’ll handle it.”
The team surely hopes today’s minor situation won’t balloon into a bigger one tomorrow.
Both Barkley and Lawrence were team captains in 2022. And both posted Pro Bowl campaigns that propped the Giants to an unexpected playoff spot.
Now both players are looking for pay increases to match their contributions, according to Schwartz.
“The issue, of course, is about money for both players,” Schwartz said. “(Both) are team captains and well-respected on and off the field.”
Here’s what you need to know about where the Giants stand with Barkley and Lawrence:
Saquon Barkley, Giants Far Apart on Potential New Deal
Even though Barkley showed commitment by joining Giants teammates for early-April workouts in Arizona, he Giants have been hesitant to match any commitment to Barkley since their season ended in January, though.
A multi-year contract offer sent to Barkley’s camp during New York’s November bye week was declined, according to Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano. And after the team extended quarterback Daniel Jones on a four-year, $160 million deal in March, they “immediately pivoted” to franchise-tagging their 1,300-yard rusher, per Schwartz.
The team’s existing offer to Barkley has since been pulled, too.
“There’s no outstanding offer right now,” general manager Joe Schoen told reporters at April’s league meetings. “Once we put the franchise tag on him, we stepped back. We knew throughout the negotiation that there was going to be a time where, if we couldn’t come to an agreement, we were going to go to the franchise tag, and that’s what we did.”
Team owner John Mara told reporters that he didn’t think Barkley “was thrilled about being tagged.” It came as no shock to the organization when No. 26 didn’t sign his franchise tag tender of $10.1 million, making make him the eighth highest-paid back in football, according to Spotrac.
That decision to avoid the tender made Barkley ineligible to participate in team workouts. According to Schwartz, his stalemate could last from now until “the brink of training camp in the summer.”
Dexter Lawrence, Giants Could Reset Defensive Tackle Market
A new deal for Lawrence remains one of Big Blue’s biggest offseason priorities.
They just might not like the price tag.
Lawrence, who set career highs in sacks (7.5), tackles for loss (7), and quarterback hits (28) last season, is looking for a deal north of $20 million per season, according to multiple reports.
That new compensation would place him among the league’s highest-paid interior linemen, according to Spotrac.
In mid-April, the Titans and star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons agreed to a contract worth $23.5 million per season. Defensive tackles Daron Payne and Javon Hargrave received offseason pay increases worth over $21 million per year from the Commanders and 49ers, respectively.
“Lawrence unquestionably is planning on moving into that high-rent district,” wrote Schwartz.
If Schoen’s recent comments are any indication, New York appears less hesitant to meet Lawrence’s demands than Barkley’s.>
The general manager told reporters at an end-of-season press conference in January that Lawrence had “done enough” to merit a new contract. And in March, Schoen told reporters at the NFL combine that a new deal for Lawrence is already in the works.
“Dexter, Joel Segal’s his agent, we’ve had conversations with him,” Schoen said. “Dexter’s a great leader, great player, did a good job for us this year. So he’s definitely somebody we’ll talk to and would like to have him here for a long time.”