Running back Saquon Barkley’s future with the New York Giants is in jeopardy. The Giants will explore a deal with Barkley but it’s unlikely they’ll use the franchise tag on him for a second year in a row at $12,109,200 which is $2 million more than last year, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Big Blue isn’t the only team not using the franchise tag on their running backs, joining the Las Vegas Raiders, the Dallas Cowboys, Tennessee Titans, and the Los Angeles Chargers. March 5 is the last day that teams can put the franchise tag on players. There will be a lot of running backs that will become free agents, including possibly Barkley, Josh Jacobs, Tony Pollard, Ezekiel Elliot, D’Andre Swift, AJ Dillon, and others.
Barkley wants to remain with the Giants. NFL Insider Tom Pelissero thinks that Barkley will stay with the Giants.
“They took an initial run, back at the bye-week in 2022, with getting a deal done with Saquon. They offered him a significant deal before the franchise tag deadline last March, and their plan based on their actions was to get the deal done with Saquon somewhere in that 12-13 million per year range,” Pelissero said. “Now they had him for $10.1 million and they had him a bargain on the tag, all of which is to say the Giants clearly value Saquon Barkley. I find it hard to believe that he’s going to play this year on the tag. I do believe that there will be an effort made on the Giants’ part to see if they can get a deal done with Saquon.“
Will Barkley and the Giants get a deal done? Or will hebecome a free agent? I believe that Barkley will become a free agent. Last season he missed three games due to injuries and struggled. He ran for just 962 yards and had 41 catches for just 280 yards. He also had to deal with a rotation of quarterbacks with Daniel Jones, Tyrod Taylor, and Tommy DeVito, which caused issues on offense for the Giants. The Giants were 6-8 when Saquon played last season, so they will be looking for a cheaper running back.
Possible destinations for Barkley are the Chargers, the Baltimore Ravens, the Houston Texans, and the Philadelphia Eagles. Any other team looking to improve their running game could also be an option. Barkley will probably end up with the Chargers, or the Texans, or the Ravens.
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