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Saquon Barkley To Consider Skipping Week 1 If No Extension Reached

July 12th, 2023 at 11:38am CST by Sam Robinson

Five days out from the franchise tag extension deadline, three players — Saquon Barkley, Evan Engram and Josh Jacobs — have not signed their tenders. If no extensions are reached by Monday’s 3pm CT deadline, the trio will not be obligated to report to training camp.

After Jacobs has been connected to rumors of potentially sitting out the Raiders’ regular-season opener, Barkley has now been mentioned as having a chance to stay away from the Giants once the season starts. Barkley’s Week 1 availability against the Cowboys would be “in serious question” if no extension is agreed to, Dianna Russini of ESPN.com tweets.

[RELATED: Examining Remaining Franchise Tag Situations]

This course of action would cost Barkley a game check, but the former No. 2 overall pick is in a unique position compared to other backs who have been tagged. Whereas Jacobs collected his four-year rookie-deal salary as a No. 24 overall pick and Pollard played four Dallas seasons on a fourth-round contract, Barkley earned more than $31MM over his first four years due to his draft slot. The Penn State product then added $7.2MM on the fifth-year option last season, bringing his career earnings close to $40MM.

Barkley missing Week 1 would cost him $560K, and his NFL earnings to date offer him some protection. Barkley, 26, has also said taking the Le’Veon Bell route — skipping a season in protest of the tag — is a consideration. This would be a highly unlikely scenario, however, as it would mean punting on $10.1MM fully guaranteed. Only Bell has gone through with radical route this century. A threat of missing Week 1 will be used as leverage as well, as Barkley is obviously a central component in the Giants’ offense, ahead of Monday’s deadline. Barkley has already been connected to skipping training camp, as Bell did during the first year the Steelers tagged him.

For now, Barkley and the Giants remain at a stalemate, Russini adds (on Twitter). The Giants came through with a resolution at the previous tag deadline, extending Daniel Jones on a four-year, $160MM deal and then tagging Barkley in March. Upon unholstering the tag, the Giants withdrew their extension offer to the sixth-year running back. The team had offered the two-time Pro Bowler more than $12MM on average during November 2022 negotiations and upped the proposal to beyond $13MM AAV earlier this year. Neither offer, however, was believed to have high-end guarantees. Guaranteed money remains a sticking point here.

Last week, some optimism was believed to exist regarding an extension. Ownership remains behind Barkley, and it will be interesting to see if that impacts a final push for a deal. While running back value has taken another dip this year, the Giants are one of the NFL’s more RB-reliant teams. Jones and a low-end pass-catching cast relied on Barkley last season, and the former Offensive Rookie of the Year rebounded from an injury-plagued stretch to lead the team to the playoffs. The Giants have made some skill-position upgrades this offseason. But both their receiving and tight end additions come with questions. Darren Waller has encountered considerable injury trouble over the past two years, and none of Big Blue’s wideout acquisitions will be viewed as a No. 1-caliber target this season. Third-rounder Jalin Hyatt is not expected to be a Week 1 starter.

With the salary cap expected to spike again in 2024, it is interesting teams have cut costs further at running back this year. Christian McCaffrey‘s $16MM-per-year deal has topped this position group since April 2020, and neither Barkley nor Jacobs appears a candidate to take that down. The Giants will also need to decide whether to give Barkley a deal that includes more than $22MM guaranteed, which would cover the cost of a 2024 franchise tag. McCaffrey, Derrick Henry and Bijan Robinson are the only backs attached to more than $18MM guaranteed.

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