There’s still time for a resolution between the New York Giants and Saquon Barkley.
Just ask the star running back himself.
Barkley, who hasn’t signed his $10.091 franchise tag tender, echoed head coach Brian Daboll in saying it’s still early for panic. But also revealed he’s had minimal contact with general manager Joe Schoen off a career-best 1,312-yard rushing season.
“Where do I stand with the Giants right now? It’s like what someone said the other day … it’s still April,” Barkley told Keith Groller of The Morning Call. “I haven’t had conversations with Joe (Schoen, the Giants GM) too much. So the best way I can handle it is to keep working. Whatever happens, happens.”
What’s happening now could form the basis for an extended Barkley holdout, though.
Schoen confirmed his lack of contact with Barkley’s camp in an April 20 redraft press conference. The team has also pulled its midseason offer to Barkley that would’ve put his pay on par with Browns star running back Nick Chubb.
Barkley and the Giants do have time before the July 17 deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign long-term deals. Until then, Barkley won’t be able to join his team for any workouts, practices, or camps.
“There are things I can’t really control right now,” Barkley said. “All I can control is how I will wake up every morning and stay with my goals and my passion. Even though I may not be with the team right now and not in the building, I don’t think anyone with the Giants is concerned about my work-ethic and my teammates aren’t worried about how I’m preparing.”
Here’s what else you need to know about negotiations between the Giants and their franchised ballcarrier:
Giants GM Joe Schoen Can’t Say if Saquon Barkley Will Join 2023 Giants
Schoen didn’t sound optimistic about the current state of Barkley talks.
He even asked reporters to ask Barkley about his stance because “nothing’s changed” from the team side.
“You have to ask (Barkley about contract talks),” Schoen said during his pre-draft press conference. “I’m not sure. I don’t know what his plan is. “I haven’t talked to him in probably three weeks.”
Joe Schoen has not talked to Saquon Barkley in over 3 weeks and is unsure what his plan will be when the season approaches:
The team’s position is the same as it was three weeks ago.
Schoen told reporters at the League Meetings in Arizona in March that once contract talks “reached a certain point,” the Giants were comfortable moving on to “regroup at a certain time.” But that’s not a reflection of how the club feels about Barkley, a team captain during its playoff run.
“I’ve been in this long enough — there’s a business side to it, there’s a playing side to it,” Daboll told The New York Post’s Paul Schwartz before the team’s voluntary workout program began on April 17. “My focus is on today. Whatever situation comes up, we’ll handle it.”
The situation remains unhandled, though. And the longer that remains the case, the bigger distraction a Giants-Barkley holdout could potentially be.
Saquon Barkley Thinks He Could Be Even Better in 2023
A speedier end to Barkley’s stalemate could benefit both sides.
The Giants would get the centerpiece of their offense back sooner. And Barkley would get a chance to build on a season in which he was a finalist for Comeback Player of the Year.
“There’s still a version of 26 that a lot of people haven’t seen,” Barkley told Groller. “It wasn’t so much that I was proud of myself. It was just confirming everything that I knew. I knew the player was still there, but it’s easier to say it. You’ve got to go out there and show it and God blessed me and kept me healthy and we have some tremendous coaches and tremendous teammates and they put me in position to be successful. I was able to prove to not only myself, but to everyone that the player is still there.”
2022 Pro Bowler @saquon rushed for a career-high 1,312 yards. 😤
It remains to be seen when — or even if — that player returns to East Rutherford. But ACL tears like the one Barkley suffered in 2021 typically take a year to fully heal and repair.
The 2023 version of Saquon could indeed be even scarier for defenses than the 2022 version.
Said Barkley: “I feel I’m young still at 26 and I’m just starting to get into my prime.”
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Saquon Barkley Addresses Current Stance on Giants Contract