At 4pm on July 17, the New York Giants will become unable to sign running back Saquon Barkley to a new contract until after the 2023 season. Barkley is currently set to play the 2023 season under the franchise tag after the Giants chose not to offer him a long-term extension. "Me getting tagged, was I upset about it? Nobody wants to get tagged," Barkley in June. "To sit here and say I was frustrated, I was mad, I was upset, what really got me upset was the stories that got leaked out, how misleading they were, and how untruthful they were. I feel it was trying to paint a narrative of me, a picture of me, that is not even true. Not even close to being the truth."
The contract deadlock comes during an offseason where Giants signed quarterback Daniel Jones to a $160 million extension. After being seen as a draft bust for much of his rookie contract, Jones led the Giants back to the playoffs last season. Barkley was drafted by the Giants in 2018, with the hype of a generational talent at the position. However, much of his career has been derailed by injury. In 2022, Barkley stayed healthy and recorded a career-high 1312 yards. However, now his career could be in peril for another reason.
Barkley Could Sit
If the deadline to sign Barkley to a longer deal passes, the 26-year-old has a big decision to make. Does he play under the tag or holdout for a bigger contract? According to ESPN's Dianna Russini, the latter is very much in play. "Saquon Barkley has made it clear the franchise tag is undesirable. I’m told his availability for Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys will be in serious question if he does not get a long-term deal from the Giants," Russini wrote on Twitter.
There have been a number of notable holdouts in the NFL in recent years. Deshaun Watson refused to play for the Texans due to disputes with the head office. However, that situation was also complicated by the first stirrings of the sexual misconduct scandal that Watson would become involved in 2022. Meanwhile, the last purely contract-motivated holdout was Le'Veon Bell in 2018. Bell left the Steelers after the 2018 season but his career nosedived. He played for four teams over the next three seasons and was out of the league before he turned 30. However, it's hard to compare Barkley and Bell too much, given Bell's notoriety.
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