APRIL 30: As expected, the Giants and Barkley will resume contract talks now that the draft is over, as Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com writes. The two sides did, in fact, touch base last week and will now attempt to find some middle ground on a long-term accord. Big Blue selected a running back, Oklahoma’s Eric Gray, in the fifth round, but as Schwartz notes, Schoen told Barkley before the draft of his intention to pick up a mid-round RB so that Barkley would not be blindsided.
APRIL 23: The Giants have two standouts who have stayed away from the start of the club’s offseason program: DT Dexter Lawrence and RB Saquon Barkley. As Paul Schwartz of the New York Post observes, GM Joe Schoen is taking a markedly different approach in his negotiations with those two players.
With respect to Barkley, negotiations are non-existent at this time. The Giants have until July 17 to work out a long-term deal with Barkley, who was slapped with the franchise tag in March and who has yet to sign the franchise tender, worth $10.1MM. Obviously, there is still plenty of time for player and team to strike an accord that will keep Barkley under club control for the next few seasons, and discussions may resume once this week’s draft has concluded. Still, Schoen’s tone in his comments on the two-time Pro Bowler is noteworthy.
When asked if he is optimistic that Barkley will suit up for the start of the 2023 season, Schoen said, “you have to ask him. I’m not sure. I don’t know what his plan is.”
The Giants offered Barkley a multiyear contract worth $13MM per year in advance of the franchise tag deadline, though the guarantee and cash flow components of New York’s proposals have never been reported. And, while Barkley has said that he is not necessarily seeking to better Christian McCaffrey‘s $16MM AAV — the top mark among running backs — it has also been reported that he wants to at least be in that ballpark.
Clearly, there is a gap between the two sides, and it is unclear how wide that gap is. The suppressed RB market is hurting Barkley, who may ultimately have to do more compromising than the Giants if he wants to avoid playing the 2023 campaign on the tag. Of course, he could simply choose to not sign his tender and sit out the season, though that tactic ultimately proved to be the wrong choice for the last player to try it, Le’Veon Bell.
Schoen said that he has not spoken to Barkley’s camp in three or four weeks. “When we had the conversations with Saquon it was known we were going to get to a certain point and then we were gonna move on and regroup at some other time,” the second-year GM said. Schoen added that the Barkley situation will not influence his decision to select or not select a running back in the draft.
Lawrence, meanwhile, is presently scheduled to play out the 2023 season on the fifth-year option of his rookie deal, which will pay him $12.4MM. Reports last month indicated that progress was being made on an extension, and Schoen confirmed that there continues to be productive dialogue with Lawrence’s representation. Schwartz indicated that Lawrence is targeting a four-year pact worth $22MM per season.
In 2022, Lawrence set career-highs in tackles (68), sacks (7.5), and QB hits (28) en route to Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro acclaim. Pro Football Focus ranked Lawrence second among 127 qualifying interior defenders, and he earned position-best marks for his run defense and pass rushing.
They offered Barkley a contract, he didn’t want it. Play on the franchise tag, don’t want to give a rb a long term deal. Last yr was a prove it yr and he finally stayed healthy. Lawrence we have to re work Williams deal and get that done.
Totally agree on both points. The contract they offered Barkley seems more than fair. If he won’t sign, oh well. And yeah, nothing will happen with Lawrence until they address Williams’s huge deal.
Well, who watches the Giants without saying every time Barkley touches the ball: “ut o, is he out for the season?”. You cannot say Penn State running back without the words “out for the season” in the NFL.
Market value. That’s what Saquon has to figure out. He was lucky to get the $13mm/yr AAV offer during the bye week and should have pounced on it. Seeing what RB’s are getting on the open market for 2nd contracts (most are getting in the $6mm 1-2 year range), as well as the supposedly deep and talented RB draft class, don’t be hard headed and see what your market value is. Can’t think of any other team that will offer him what the Giants did.
I have heard that it’s mostly his agent who is telling Saquon to not accept anything less than a guaranteed deal approaching McCaffrey money. Sorry, ain’t gonna happen. Name one team that will pay him 4-5 year deal with $15mm AAV with high guaranteed money? Me neither. Unfortunately, RB’s shelf life are short and are replaceable pretty easy. The days of Barry Sanders, Eric Dickerson, Adrian Peterson, etc are over.
Went from $13m a season to $10m. Who is his Janet Lamar & his mom? Barkley should be happy they went with the franchise tag rather than the non-exclusive tag. Would have lost even more money.
The Giants watched their division rival Dallas over pay a RB for years, they will not make that same mistake. Barkley should have signed the $13 million a year multi year deal when it was on the table. The Giants should trade Barkley to the Chargers for Austin Ekeler straight up, then offer Ekeler the same deal that Barkley previously passed on. Austin would sign it in a heartbeat. Barkley should appreciate the money they are offering, RB’s are never going to be valued like WR’s and QB’s in this league. Barkley was a #2 overall pick, he has already made more money from that draft position then most RB’s will ever see in there careers. Ekeler was an undrafted free agent and he brings tremendous value to his team and his health has never been a constant topic of discussion. Let Barkley hit the open market so he can see how other RB’s are treated in this league, it may help give him some perspective on the situation imo.
After watching the Giants overpay Daniel Jones there is nothing to suggest that they won’t ALSO overpay Barkley.
I think the word “overpay” should be dropped from sports vocabulary. Salaries are escalating so quickly that the “top earners” list changes about every 6 months.
I think Schoen has done a decent job so far but the “get to a certain point and regroup” approach sounds like classic Gettleman. Don’t go there Joe!