Giants’ Saquon Barkley A Threat To Skip Training Camp
The Giants now have less than a month to hammer out an extension with Saquon Barkley. With the Giants having pulled their offer and Barkley having expressed frustration at the leaks coming from the team’s side, this process has traversed a rocky path for a while.
Barkley remains hopeful for a long-term deal, noting the time still remaining between now and this year’s deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign extensions (July 17), but word out of Giants headquarters is they would be content letting their two-time Pro Bowl back play this season on the $10.9MM tag. While it will be interesting to see which side blinks, Barkley looks to be making preparations in the event no deal comes together.
Franchise-tagged players are not subject to fines for missing training camp, and ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler said during a recent SportsCenter appearance (h/t Bleacher Report’s Mike Chiari) Barkley is “a real threat” to skip camp. This tactic would be both aimed at avoiding the extra work come July and August, while penalizing the Giants — via services withheld — for not completing a deal by the deadline.
When the Steelers tagged Le’Veon Bell the first time (2017), he skipped training camp and reported September 1. Bell did start the season slowly, by his standards at the time, but finished with his second first-team All-Pro honor. No backs received the tag from 2019-22, leaving Barkley and Josh Jacobs as the only candidates to skip camp free of penalty since Bell. (Tony Pollard signed his Cowboys tender in March.)
What Bell did the following year generated far more attention. Barkley has referenced skipping the season, as Bell did in 2018 in protest of being tagged a second time, as a viable option. Bell has since expressed regret for doing this. Although Bell prevented a major injury affecting his 2019 market (when he scored $27MM fully guaranteed from the Jets), he missed out on $14.5MM by not signing his franchise tender. Bell is the only player to skip a season on the tag since the 1990s, when defensive linemen Sean Gilbert (1997) and Dan Williams (1998) did so. The salaries they passed on paled in comparison Bell’s, and the ex-Steeler great remains the poster boy for this rare course of action.
Barkley should not be considered likely to take this route, though he is in a better financial position than Bell was in 2018 or his 2023 tagged RB peers are. Barkley being chosen second overall locked in $31.2MM. The Giants exercised his fifth-year option ($7.2MM), putting the former Offensive Rookie of the Year near $40MM in career earnings. If a back were to try the Bell move, Barkley is positioned as well as anyone has been since the 2011 CBA reshaped rookie contracts. Taking this route would mean punting on $10.9MM and skipping an age-26 season. Seeing as Barkley’s prime is unlikely to last too much longer, this will be a valuable year.
The Giants are not introducing a new offense, with OC/play-caller Mike Kafka not being hired in this year’s cycle. The prospect of missing their starting back during camp and the preseason would not be especially damaging, with the looming threat of missed game checks hanging over Barkley in the event he tries to extend his absence into the regular season. That said, Barkley remains New York’s top skill-position player and occupies that role for a team without a top-flight quarterback. The Giants are thin behind Barkley, rostering Matt Breida, Gary Brightwell and fifth-round rookie Eric Gray. They could also bring in a veteran insurance option. A number of accomplished backs remain unsigned, but signing a starter-caliber veteran after failing to come to terms with Barkley by July 17 also runs the risk of Joe Schoen and Co. alienating the locker room.
Guarantees remain a key issue in this Giants-Barkley standoff, and while deadlines spur action, the low tag price and this year’s running back market not taking off did not do anything to convince the team to put its $13MM-AAV offer back on the table. This keeps Barkley in a tough spot at a pivotal career point. These negotiations continue to represent a prime storyline during an offseason in which the running back position has absorbed some significant blows.
ILB Competition On Tap For Giants
The Giants made a big move this offseason to address the inside linebacker position in free agency, signing former Colts linebacker Bobby Okereke. Okereke will slot in as a sure starter in New York’s lineup, but who will the Giants decide on as the starter lining up next to Okereke?
In the past two years, New York has seen their options dwindle with an ACL tear leading to the eventual release of Blake Martinez and the benching and waiving of Tae Crowder. Okereke provides a strong presence on the inside of the linebacking corps, but the team still has questions next to him. Darrian Beavers, Jarrad Davis, and Micah McFadden are the three names that have been mentioned as candidates to start next to Okereke.
McFadden is typically the third name thrown into the conversation behind Beavers and Davis. This is a result of McFadden being seemingly cemented as Okereke’s backup. McFadden started next to Okereke while Beavers and Davis were dealing with injury this spring, but considering he plays the same position as Okereke, he’s not a favorite to share the field with him moving forward. This appears to be a battle mainly between Beavers and Davis.
Davis joined the team extremely late into the season last year. A former first-round pick, Davis had been starting less and less as his career progressed. Despite becoming a Giant with two weeks left in the regular season, Davis started in Week 18 before starting two playoff games for New York, an impressive feat with such a small amount of time in the building. With Beavers dealing with injury, Davis started early in the spring, according to Dan Duggan of The Athletic, but found himself on the sideline with an undisclosed injury during minicamp.
Beavers missed his entire rookie season after tearing his ACL in Week 2 of the preseason last year. The Giants are reportedly extremely high on the 2022 sixth-round pick, whom they are hoping to have back by training camp. Once he does return, Beavers will provide immediate competition for Davis. During a Mailbag Q&A session, Duggan asserted his belief that Beavers will claim the starting job next to Okereke during training camp.
So, there you have it. Beavers, the young, unproven player coming off a major injury, is currently the expected favorite to start. Davis is slotted into the position for now, if healthy, and should have a chance to make a case to regain his status as a starter in training camp. If both are unavailable, McFadden can start in their place, though the team prefers that he back up Okereke instead of start next to him.
Minor NFL Transactions: 6/16/23
Friday’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: WR Chris Blair, DL Albert Huggins, K Matthew Trickett
- Placed on IR: RB Avery Williams (story)
- Released: QB Austin Aune, WR Justin Marshall
New York Giants
- Waived (injury designation): TE Andre Miller
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Released: S Scott Nelson
Trickett’s deal is three years in length, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). That represents a sizeable commitment considering the Falcons are already set at the kicker position with Younghoe Koo. Trickett will have training camp and the offseason to earn himself an extended look on Atlanta’s practice squad during training camp and the preseason following his five-year college career. He spent time at Kent State and Minnesota, converting 79 of 100 field goal attempts and all but three of his 179 extra point kicks.
Giants WR Sterling Shepard Aiming For Week 1 Return
The Giants’ 2023 offense will feature a number of new pass-catchers, including several different faces in the wide receiving corps. That unit will still feature Sterling Shepard, though, perhaps as early as Week 1 of the regular season. 
The veteran signed a one-year deal to remain in New York this offseason, a commitment on the team’s part to keep their longest-tenured player in the fold. Shepard’s 2022 campaign was limited to just three games due a torn ACL. He is currently rehabbing the injury, the latest in a long line in that regard which has hurt the team’s passing game and his financial value. His remarks on his recovery paint an encouraging picture, though.
“I’m right on schedule where I wanted to be, a little bit ahead,” the 30-year-old said, via Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. “So that’s always good. I’m just trying to take it day by day and just focus on getting back to 100 percent.”
At full health, the former second-rounder has been a key member of New York’s passing game. Shepard received at least 83 targets in each of his first five seasons, though that figure dropped dramatically in 2021 and ’22 given his major injuries (including an Achilles tear in the former campaign). The team’s work to boost its aerial attack this offseason should cut further into Shepard’s workload.
The Giants traded for Pro Bowl tight end Darren Waller, a move which will give newly-extended quarterback Daniel Jones a proven producer in the middle of the field. On the perimeter, free agent signings Parris Campbell and Jamison Crowder represent one-year investments at the WR spot. They, along with third-round rookie Jalin Hyatt, will give Shepard competition for playing time upon his return. The timing of that remains to be seen, but if the latter remains on his current track it could come as early as the season opener.
“My goal is to be ready for the season, so whatever that takes is what I’m going to try to do, but I’m also not going to rush it,” Shepard said. “You get to that time and I’m not feeling right, then that’s just what it’s going to be.”
Minor NFL Transactions: 6/15/23
Today’s minor transactions:
Arizona Cardinals
- Waived: WR Javon Wims
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: TE Nick Guggemos
- Placed on IR: TE Zach Davidson
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: CB Greg Mabin
- Claimed off waivers (from Cardinals): S Josh Thomas
- Waived: S Vernon Scott
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: WR Kekoa Crawford
- Signed ERFA tenders: QB Shane Buechele, TE Joe Fortson
- Waived: DB Anthony Witherstone
Los Angeles Rams
- Waived: DB Collin Duncan, K Christopher Dunn
New York Giants
- Signed: DT Kobe Smith
- Waived/injured: WR/TE Dre Miller
Greg Mabin is the biggest name on the list, with the cornerback having appeared in 45 career games. The former UDFA has spent the past two seasons with the Titans, collecting 23 tackles in 11 total games. The Panthers have gotten an extended look at their cornerback depth during minicamp with Jaycee Horn (ankle) and Donte Jackson (Achilles) sidelined, so the team has probably decided they needed some veteran reinforcement at the position.
Javon Wims will now be looking for another opportunity after getting cut by the Cardinals. The former seventh-round pick showed a bit of a potential with the Bears, including a 2019 campaign where he had 18 catches for 186 yards and one touchdown. After getting into 13 games with the Bears in 2020, the wideout has only seen time in one game over the past two seasons. He spent most of the 2022 campaign on Arizona’s practice squad.
Leonard Williams Open To Giants Extension
The Giants have already addressed their defensive line plenty this offseason with the extension of defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence and the free agent additions of defensive linemen A’Shawn Robinson and Rakeem Nunez-Roches. Now, the next logical thing to address is the future of defensive lineman Leonard Williams, who is set to play out 2023 on the final year of his current contract. 
According to Ed Valentine of SB Nation, Williams has expressed interest in staying with the Giants beyond this year. However, it doesn’t seem that there has been much discussion in the direction of an extension. Williams, originally a top-ten draft pick for the Jets in 2015, went across the street to the Giants as a part of a midseason trade in 2019 and performed at a high level for New York in the first two full seasons with his new team. A nagging neck injury throughout the 2022 season led to a down year for Williams as he struggled to return to form throughout the season.
Williams already restructured the second year of his three-year contract last year to help create some cap space, so he’s shown a willingness to be flexible in an effort to help with team finances. He’s set for a massive $32.26MM cap hit in 2023, so it would likely behoove New York to work something out with Williams. We reported days ago, though, that the Giants may be willing to shoulder that financial burden into the year.
That report is bolstered by this new one of little discussion towards the goal of a new deal. The new information, though, tells us that Williams is “open to staying” with the Giants. It may not be up to him if he can’t get back to form in 2023, though. Another down year and he may have trouble convincing the G-Men to extend another contract offer.
Guarantees Remain Issue In Saquon Barkley-Giants Negotiations
The franchise tag deadline annually produces a run of headlines before the pivotal July date. This year’s lead tag story will be Saquon Barkley‘s status with the Giants. After expressing frustration with being tagged, Barkley has until July 17 to sign a long-term extension. No deal by that date tables any negotiations until 2024.
New York pulled its top proposal to Barkley after tagging him in March. That offer was said to be worth in the $13MM-per-year neighborhood. The Giants have not put that $13MM-AAV term back on the table, the New York Daily News’ Pat Leonard notes.
Regarding the two known offers the Giants have made — one north of $12MM on average from November and the $13MM-AAV proposal from earlier this year — Leonard adds these were not high on guarantees. Indicating he would not sign his franchise tender this week, Barkley voiced frustration about the leaks from the Giants’ side regarding the offers he rejected.
Barkley’s guarantee baseline may be in the $22MM range, ESPN’s Jordan Raanan notes, as it would match the cost of playing on the tag this year and being re-tagged in 2024 (video link). Only two veteran backs — Christian McCaffrey ($30.1MM) and Derrick Henry ($25.5MM) — are attached to deals including more than $18MM fully guaranteed. Barkley’s initial NFL contract — from his No. 2 draft slot — once stood atop the position for guaranteed cash ($31.2MM). While Barkley has made nearly $40MM thanks to that deal and his 2022 fifth-year option, he does not have too many more prime seasons to parlay into a multiyear guarantee.
The Giants are believed to be OK with Barkley playing on the tag, despite the $10.9MM cap hold. Barkley, 26, joined Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard in being cuffed this year. That took the top three backs off the market, but a host of starter-level backs still hit free agency. The buyer’s market, as expected, produced a host of mid- and low-level contracts. Barkley argued this year’s running back market — which saw Miles Sanders‘ $6.4MM-per-year Panthers deal (11th in RB AAV) lead the way — is not a true reflection of the position’s value, since the franchise-tagged heavy hitters would have commanded more.
“I think the biggest thing is being patient, being open to listen and understanding what the market is,” Giants assistant GM Brandon Brown said, via NJ.com’s Bob Brookover. “The market surplus and scarcity dictates a lot on how you make decisions and also being able to agree to disagree at times and being able to get back to the table.”
Said surplus now includes Dalvin Cook, whom the Vikings finally cut last week. It remains highly unlikely the Giants would rescind Barkley’s tag to sign Cook, as that would go over poorly in the locker room given the former’s contributions to last year’s playoff-bound team. Barkley bounced back from three injury-plagued seasons to lead a Giants team low on reliable pass catchers to the postseason.
Giants hesitation regarding a top-flight guarantee is also understandable, with Barkley having suffered a high ankle sprain in 2019, an ACL tear in 2020 and another ankle injury in 2021. Barkley missed 21 games during that span. Barkley acknowledged his injury past when he said in January he was not asking to set the market at running back, but while this position’s value continues to dip across the NFL, the Giants are preparing to build around a quarterback (Daniel Jones) who submitted uneven rookie-contract work. Barkley remains a pivotal part of this plan.
As of late May, no deal was close. The team, however, came to terms with Jones minutes before the March franchise tag deadline, allowing for the Barkley tag. Negotiations with tagged players regularly run up to the July extension deadline.
“I think they’re open to talking,” Barkley said. “I’m open to talking. I think at the end of the day, if you really break it down and look at it as a whole, there is no rush. There is still time on the table to get to July 17. July 17 is not tomorrow. Maybe that is the naïve way to look at it. I could be completely wrong. But for me, that’s how I look at it. I trust in the Giants that we could get something done.”
Although Barkley has banked far more than Le’Veon Bell did when he sat out the 2018 season in protest of the tag, Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano notes the Giants are not concerned he will follow the ex-Steeler’s lead by skipping a season. That would cost him the $10.9MM tag salary and his age-26 season. It is not expected the Giants will raise their offer from March, but it will be interesting to see how the guarantees look in Big Blue’s final proposal before next month’s deadline.
Saquon Barkley To Skip Giants’ Minicamp
At the conclusion of his Youth Football Camp in Jersey City today, Giants running back Saquon Barkley confirmed that he will not be attending the team’s mandatory minicamp this week, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Barkley’s time away from the Giants continues as he still hasn’t signed his franchise tender. 
New York chose Barkley to franchise tag at the last second but claimed that it had full intentions of extending the veteran running back’s contract, with the tag serving as a backup plan in case negotiations failed. Barkley made it clear very early that he had no intention of signing his franchise tender before the team’s offseason program. This was news but nothing groundbreaking, considering he wouldn’t incur any fines for skipping the voluntary offseason workouts.
Waiting to sign franchise tenders is nothing new, as the tag is often viewed as a last-ditch option to retain a player if an extension can’t be reached. Waiting to sign also protects the tagged player from receiving fines for holding out from minicamp. A player like Tony Pollard, who signed his franchise tender back in March, would be subject to fines for missing minicamp, while Barkley can continue to hold out without penalty until the regular season begins, like Le’Veon Bell did years ago.
Speaking of Bell, Barkley hasn’t ruled out such a holdout. He seems intent on pushing the Giants at least until the last second. When asked about the potential of playing the season out on the franchise tag, he refused to acknowledge that he’s even considered it, telling the media he “would make those decisions or start thinking about that” when the deadline comes mid-July, according to Andrew Crane of the New York Post.
He didn’t nearly seem optimistic that things would be handled by July 17. According to another report by Crane, when asked if the deal would be handled by then, he took a long pause before replying, “I don’t know really. I don’t know.” In fact, he even said that sitting out the 2023 NFL season was an option he could use as “a card (he) could play,” according to Pat Leonard of New York Daily News. It has become clear that this situation has the potential to turn ugly in New York as the two sides continue to negotiate at an impasse.
Barkley’s statement today wasn’t necessarily an announcement of an incoming holdout, though. It seemed to be more of an attempt to state his side of the story. He made sure to inform that he had no intention of resetting the running back market. He has reportedly turned down deals with annual average values of $12.5MM and $13MM. Only Alvin Kamara and Christian McCaffrey have contracts averaging more per year, but they are making $15MM and $16.02MM, respectively.
Barkley also used the media session as an opportunity to air some of his frustrations about the situation. He strongly implied that he felt disrespected by the organization throughout the contract standoff. He claimed that the team’s front office had been “misleading” with “untruthful” leaks that “make (him) look like (he’s) greedy.” He didn’t name general manager Joe Schoen, specifically, but Schoen was the one who publicly made known the above offers that were rejected.
Barkley has asserted that his feelings weren’t hurt by being tagged. He even understands that, in the harsh business world of the NFL, the Giants have all the leverage in negotiating. But the way the team’s front office has handled the situation seems to be rubbing him the wrong way. There doesn’t appear to be any irreparable damage, though. Much like the Lamar Jackson situation, it seems Barkley has been able to separate his business with the front office from the relationships with his teammates and coaches.
It’s unclear how much longer this will go on, but we now know it won’t be over by the opening of minicamp. Barkley is firmly standing his ground for what he feels he deserves. Whether or not that will preclude him from playing in the 2023 NFL season has yet to be determined.
Giants Unlikely To Address Leonard Williams’ Contract?
Giants defensive lineman Leonard Williams is attached to a $32.3MM cap figure for 2023, which is the third-highest mark in the league and which places Williams behind only Patrick Mahomes and Ryan Tannehill. Nonetheless, Big Blue seems prepared to carry that number on its ledger.
Per Dan Duggan of The Athletic (subscription required), the Giants have shown “no interest” in extending Williams, who will be eligible for free agency after the season, or restructuring his contract. Either maneuver, of course, would push more money onto future caps, so it stands to reason that GM Joe Schoen would be hesitant to go down that road for a player whose sack totals have declined sharply over the past two years and who missed significant game action due to injury for the first time in his career in 2022.
Duggan himself reported back in March that Schoen planned to sit down with Williams to discuss a reduction of the player’s cap charge. Based on Duggan’s most recent report, however, it seems as if those talks may have been designed to gauge Williams’ interest in a pay cut and may not have included much conversation about an extension or restructure. Williams suggested in January that he may be amenable to a reduction in pay, but his current stance on the matter is unclear.
Despite Williams’ declining surface-level production — 11.5 sacks in 2020, 6.5 in 2021, and 2.5 in 2022 — he continues to perform well in the eyes of the advanced metrics. Pro Football Focus assigned him a 74.2 overall grade last year, which placed him 19th out of 127 qualified interior linemen, and he was viewed as an above-average run defender and pass rusher. Plus, although Schoen did bolster his DL rotation with free agent acquisitions of A’Shawn Robinson and Rakeem Nunez-Roches, the playoff-hopeful Giants are clearly better with Williams than without him, so a release seems unlikely.
Indeed, the Robinson and Nunez-Roches signings may even enhance Williams’ performance by reducing the number of snaps he has to play, which was a priority for Schoen when the offseason began. As Duggan notes, Schoen could theoretically wait until closer to the start of the regular season to demand that Williams agree to a reduction of his $18MM salary, because at that point there will likely be no team that would be willing or able to absorb a contract worth anything close to that figure. Of course, that would represent a hardnosed negotiation tactic that would be sure to anger Williams and his teammates, so Schoen is unlikely to go that route.
For now, it appears that Williams will get his $18MM salary and that the Giants will have to live with his massive cap charge, secure in the knowledge that even if Williams falters in 2023, they will be free from his contract in 2024, when they will only be on the hook for a ~$6MM cap hit stemming from a September restructure.
Giants Notes: Flott, McCloud, Cowden
Although they still have a need at wide receiver, we learned yesterday that the Giants are not presently expected to acquire free agent DeAndre Hopkins. With Hopkins eyeing a $15MM/year contract, and with New York boasting less than $4MM in cap room, much would have to change for the club’s interest in Hopkins to go beyond the exploratory stage.
Here are a few more Giants-related items:
- As Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post (subscription required) writes, the Giants believe that second-year pro Cor’Dale Flott — who was drafted as a slot corner — is better-suited to man the boundaries. That could mean that Darnay Holmes will reprise his role as the club’s primary slot defender, but the team could also gain much-needed cap space (about $2.5MM) by cutting Holmes. If Flott shows improvement as an inside option, or if UDFA Leonard Johnson should impress, Holmes may become a release/pay cut candidate.
- The Giants lost safety Julian Love to the Seahawks in free agency this offseason, and as Dunleavy writes in a separate piece, Big Blue is shifting 2022 waiver claim Nick McCloud to safety on a full-time basis. Per Dunleavy, McCloud will compete with free agent signee Bobby McCain and incumbents Jason Pinnock and Dane Belton for the starting safety job alongside Xavier McKinney. McCloud, like Love, offers positional versatility and started eight games at corner in 2022, so even if he works primarily at safety, DC Wink Martindale may still use him elsewhere in the defensive backfield.
- According to Dunleavy, first-round rookie Deonte Banks is now lining up as a starting boundary corner opposite Adoree’ Jackson after working with the second-team defense during the first week of OTAs.
- The Giants recently added Ryan Cowden to their front office, and per the team’s official website, Cowden’s title will be executive advisor to the general manager. Cowden, who actually interviewed for New York’s GM job last year — a job that ultimately went to Joe Schoen — ended the 2022 campaign as the Titans’ interim GM, but Tennessee elected to hire Ran Carthon for the permanent gig. Cowden and Schoen worked together in the Panthers’ front office from 2000-07, so Schoen is adding a familiar and experienced sounding board to his personnel department.
- Last week, we heard that the Giants and franchise-tagged running back Saquon Barkley are no closer to coming to terms on a long-term contract than they have ever been. It appears that guaranteed money is the biggest sticking point, though it is unclear what the Giants have offered in that regard, nor the degree to which those offers fall short of what Barkley might be seeking.