Saquon Barkley headlined the list of running backs who were unable to negotiate a long-term deal ahead of yesterday’s deadline, leaving them to play out the season on the franchise tag. Talks between he and the Giants nearly produced an agreement. 
The two parties came within roughly $1-$2MM of reaching an agreement on the matter of both annual compensation and guaranteed money, as detailed by Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post and corroborated (on Twitter) by NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. The Giants’ final offer made in advance of the deadline was a three-year contract with an AAV of between $11MM and $11.5MM and $22-23MM in guarantees, per Dunleavy.
Barkley and the Giants had engaged in few contract talks in the weeks leading up to yesterday, but they circled back in an effort to come to terms. Given their inability to bridge the relatively small gap which existed – Dunleavy adds that both parties felt they had conceded as much as they could – the 26-year-old is now faced with the proposition of earning $10.1MM on the tag this season or sitting out regular season games and costing himself $560K per week in the process.
At the trade deadline in the 2022 season, Barkley seemed to a higher priority for the Giants than quarterback Daniel Jones. It was the latter who was the preferred target of a long-term deal by March, however, and the team’s ability to come to terms on a contract just before the deadline to apply tags allowed them to use it on Barkley. That shifted leverage towards New York, and the team faced little pressure to offer a lucrative package of salary and guarantees given the presence of the tag and the wider landscape of the RB market. Dunleavy does note, on the other hand, that “at least six teams” would have made a push to sign Barkley in free agency, had that become a possibility.
The Giants were unwilling – at least, right up until the deadline – to reach or surpass the $22MM mark in guarantees, a crucial figure in negotiations. Barkley (along with the Raiders’ Josh Jacobs and the Cowboys’ Tony Pollard) would earn just over $22MM by playing on franchise tags this year and next, so a long-term offer above that point would have been needed for a deal to be plausible. Upping the guarantees included lowering the AAV in the Barkley case, though, leaving the sides at an impasse.
The increasingly public nature of negotiations left the two-time Pro Bowler frustrated with this process, and attention will now turn to his willingness (or lack thereof) to participate in training camp in the build-up to his sixth season in the Big Apple. The team will face considerable expectations given last year’s surprising success, and Barkley will again be counted on as a focal point of New York’s offense. How the season dictates his financial market ahead of 2024 will be a major storyline to follow.
Best way to establish his value (& the RB position value) is to sit out a few games. Giants will struggle without him. He carried that offense last year.
Lol no.
Le’veon Bell would like to have a word
The opposite. A guy who has health issues is going to help himself for 2024 by missing training camp and more games? C’mon. He also risks their fills ins demonstrating they could provide decent or better production at a minimum price and making him expendable.
Go to camp and be healthy. Prevent the fill ins from getting enough time to prove you are expendable. Produce and get paid for 2024-26…and collect the $10+M you are already guaranteed for this year.
It seems odd to reject an offer worth more than the Tag offer, particularly when nothing points to the RB value improving next year.
This would be a very difficult issue on which to prove collusion as it is restricted to a specific position.
not directly from saq as far as I recall, but most of the writing has noted gaurtenteed money vs total paper value
It’s pretty stupid to reject the deal just because that’s what you’d make in two franchise tags.
The bug argument against thr franchise tag is that it only guarantees you one year, and an injury would impact your earning potential.
So guaranteeing that much up front protects against that case. I can imagine much worse things than being guaranteed $22mill for the next 2 years. Only getting $10mill for one year is one of them.
They came within 1-2 mil and neither side could find a compromise?
It’s crazy. I deal in contracts/negotiations multiple times a week. “Let’s split the difference” is usually the answer, even in million dollar contracts.
Especially when you’re staring down a firm deadline
Seems like his agent is doing him a disservice. Imagine his value if he suits up for his first game later in the season and sustains an injury? He would lose the first game income and next year’s tag guarantee. That’s a high-level risk.
Couldn’t agree with you more. He has a very inexperienced agent who I believe tried to force the Giants hand and totally not only misread the RB market, but did her client a total disservice. If Saquon was 24 this would be a moot point, but he’s at that magical age of 27. The same age as Dalvin Cook (out of work), Elliot (out of work), Eckler (asked to take a pay cut), and Sanders (settled for $6mm).
His reps failed him.
I don’t understand the hate for his agent. Does she shoulder some blame? Sure. But in the end, the agent works for the player, not the other way around. She was just following whatever parameters Barkley told her to. But all that said, she absolutely should have pushed him to sign whatever NYG best offer was.
There was no hate expressed here, just the reality of the current market for running backs, especially those with a significant history of injuries. Their window of opportunity for a fair contract may have just closed.
Sorry Sherm, my comment wasn’t meant to be a reply to you (or anybody in particular for that matter). Meant to put it as a general comment but somehow got it as a reply to you or somebody.
That sounds easy but for example, if Saquon wanted $30 and Giants offered $20, then splitting the difference has you at $25, not $22.
jjd – so if I demanded 1 quadrillion dollars then simply split the difference would be just over 500 trillion? Sure I’ll take that!
To split the difference both sides have to see the other’s stance as reasonable and at this point it appears neither side did.
Saquon/his agent completely misread the market. Unless he takes the $10M and produces he will not sniff anything near that amount again, especially with a hold out.
Baby athletes.
Giants should just remove the tag and let him be a free agent to sign a one year deal elsewhere. Bring in Dalvin Cook.
The downside of being a pro sports athlete in New York is that there is virtually no way you can prevent the media from turning the contract negotiations into a public spectacle. Barkley was frequently referred to as a “Gettleman guy” by the media and I think that put him at a disadvantage right from the start.
The only “public spectacle” being promoted is by those stuck in a 1980s time warp. One tabloid is Murdoch-owned and another is a “ghost paper” with no office,
If this report is true, and I assume it is, then it paints Barkley and his representative as greedy and stubborn. They literally have no leverage and after refusing the offer, which was more than double the AAV that RB’s received on the open market, and having the magical 2 tag numbers guaranteed, that is poor buisness and negotiations by his representative.
He is now in a no win situation. Play well and the Giants will tag him again. Don’t play well, or get injured and your value just went into the toilet. Let’s not forget he’ll be a 28 year old RB with heavy wear and tear as well as a long injury history (even last year he played the last 10 games with a bad shoulder and wasn’t the same as the first 7 games).
Personally I would take the guaranteed money and be safe, then to gamble on a bunch of if’s. iF I stay healthy, IF I have a great season, IF the RB market rises, IF a team wants to spend top dollar for a 28 year old, IF aim not viewed as an old over the hill washed up player.
Saquon your agent did you wrong.
I have to go with the “he should have signed” crowd. It has far less to do with Barkley’s abilities than it has to do with “reading the market,” which should be an agent’s primary job. Added to that is an often-injured athlete playing an often-injured position, and I think you run a higher than normal risk of this year’s tag money being the highest salary you’ll get for the rest of your career. I completely think this is more on the agent than on Barkley.
Barkley is a joy to watch, but there’s a good chance he spends more time on IR than on the field for the next three seasons. The offer looks fair.
Not does Barkley lose the money, he loses the opportunity to be a home town hero, with the attendant endorsements. Tense contract negotiations dragging out for years, sitting out training camp will not improve the shine on Barkley in New York.
Barkley was a mistake on draft night. I was hoping for Josh Allen, and the Giants would be in a better place now.
Look on the bright side – the Giants didn’t waste their #2 pick on Baker Mayfield (1), Sam Darnold (3) or Josh Rosen (10). But yes, the Giants only picked up Danny Dimes in 2019. There was a hole at QB. There’s no way the Giants were taking Josh Allen at 2 though. You would have ended up with Darnold.