Getty Saquon Barkley (L) & Kenny Golladay (R).
If all goes according to plan, Saquon Barkley will eventually join Tiki Barber atop the New York Giants‘ all-time rushing list.
Yet, while the two running backs may eventually share a place alongside one another in the Giants’ record books, their opinions on a potential Kenny Golladay signing couldn’t be more disparate.
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Saquon Barkley Wants Giants to Sign Kenny Golladay ‘Badly’
The team is set to meet with the former Detroit Lions pass-catcher on Thursday evening, a visit that is expected to continue into Friday, per New York Daily News’ Pat Leonard. While Giants fans desperately await news on a deal that will bring Golladay to East Rutherford, they’re not alone.
According to NJ Advance Media’s Zack Rosenblatt, many Giants players are foaming at the mouth with excitement about the prospect of landing the NFL’s former touchdown receptions leader — that includes all-world running back Saquon Barkley, who hasn’t exactly been guarded about his preference of bringing Golladay to New York:
‘We need him,’ one current player told NJ Advance Media, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Multiple other players expressed a similar sentiment, that they’d like the Giants to bring in a player of Golladay’s caliber.
Saquon Barkley is intrigued at the possibility too, it seems. A person familiar with the star running back’s thinking told NJ Advance Media he believes that Barkley ‘badly’ wants the Giants to sign Golladay. Barkley hasn’t exactly hid that on social media either.
Wednesday, Barkley favorited multiple tweets about the possibility that the Giants would be signing Golladay and retweeted one tweet that said ‘RT (retweet) if you want the Giants to sign WR Kenny Golladay today.’
Here are just a couple of Saquon retweets that Rosenblatt alluded to:
However, while one current Giants star may be on board with a Golladay signing, one former Giants star is very much not.
Signing Kenny Golladay Would be ‘Stupid,’ Says Tiki Barber
Tiki Barber believes the Giants need to address the receiver position. With that said, he doesn’t believe doling out the type of money to secure the services of Golladay is the answer.
“It’s stupid, but somebody is going to give it to him,” Barber said, via NJ Advance Media. “He played five games last year and had one great season.” Golladay missed 11 games in 2020 due to hamstring and hip injuries — a likely reason why the team has opted to meet with him before hammering out a deal.
Instead, Barber believes that using the No. 11 pick in April’s upcoming draft is the best route to take when it comes to filling the team’s void at the position.
“To me, there’s not even a question of what the Giants should do with their first-round pick this year,” Barber said. “Get one of those [receivers] and develop him along with the rest of this young offense.”
Maybe Barber will have a different opinion if/or when the numbers come in on a Golladay deal. According to Rosenblatt, Golladay’s contract is expected to come in below initial projections and likely land in the $14-16 million range. For instance, Pro Football Focus projected the wideout to ink a four-year, $85 million deal which would have paid him a whopping $21.25 million average yearly salary.
In fact, the contract offer that Golladay received from the Cincinnati Bengals this week was a mere one-year deal, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
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Saquon Barkley & Tiki Barber Disagree on Potential Kenny Golladay Signing