Getty Saquon Barkley of the New York Giants.
The Saquon Barkley narrative has done quite the 180 since arriving in East Rutherford four years ago. A blue-chip prospect coming out of Penn State, Barkley quickly made his presence felt for the Giants, leading the entire NFL with 2,028 yards from scrimmage as a rookie. However ever since his brilliant coming-out party in 2018, not much has gone right for the former No. 2 pick. While he’s continued to flash at the times, that’s mostly been overshadowed by mounting injuries and lackluster production. So much so that fans were legitimately questioning whether veteran journeyman Devontae Booker should leapfrog Barkley on the depth chart this past season.
Once viewed as the next big-time running back to cash-in and a surefire candidate to receive a second contract from the Giants, Barkley’s future in New York is now murky at best. With a new regime in town and GM Joe Schoen reportedly looking to clear $40 million in cap space this offseason (per NBC Sports’ Peter King), ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler doesn’t see a sensible scenario where Barkley inks a long-term deal in 2023. Instead, Fowler floats two potential trade destinations for the 24-year-old this offseason — both of which reside within the conference.
“It might be time. It has been four years. Barkley has high-quality traits, but the Giants need to exhaust all options for their rebuild,” Fowler wrote. “Enough teams are still enamored by his skill set that they could be interested in a potential deal. Many still view Barkley as a top-shelf tailback when healthy. He’s due $7.2 million on a fifth-year option, and doing a long-term deal in New York for the 2023 free agent just doesn’t make sense for either side. Barkley in San Francisco’s offense would be fun, and Tampa Bay could have an opening if free agent Leonard Fournette signs elsewhere.”
Barkley’s Decreasing Production
As alluded to earlier, Barkley’s biggest caveat in recent years has been his availability. Or rather, lack thereof. After appearing in all 16 games as a rookie, the former Pro Bowler has missed 21 games since 2019, including four this past season. With abbreviated on-field time in 2021, Barkley mustered up just 592 yards and two touchdowns on 162 carries. His 3.7 yards per carry average marked the lowest of his career (min. three games) and continues a trend of decreased efficiency as a runner in every season since his rookie campaign.
Of course, the Giants’ atrocious conglomeration of offensive line play and schematics have certainly not helped his case. Thankfully, Schoen appears to be in tune with these shortcomings, telling Ralph Vacchiano of SNY on January 26 that “if you want to see Daniel Jones put his best foot forward, he’s got to be on his feet. If you want to see what Saquon can do, it would be nice if we could block guys.”
Barkley Eyeing a Return to Form in 2022
Headed into a make-or-break offseason, a healthy Barkley is focused less on the prospect of a potential payday and more so and regaining his pre-injury form.
via Madelyn Burke of Giants.com:
Just going back to the basics. Working on the little things, coming in every single day and just trying to get better no matter the circumstance. I’m going to continue to keep that (mindset) throughout my career, especially going into the offseason…
I just want to train. I just want to get back. Get my body right, attack it and get back to my explosiveness. There were a lot of things I wish I was able to do last offseason and couldn’t, so I’m definitely never going to take that for granted again. Just get to work, block out all the noise and do me.
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