When the New York Giants selected Saquon Barkley with the second overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, there were a significant number of people who were skeptical about the decision to take a running back that high despite the amount of hype surrounding the Penn State product.
Barkley is a star and there is no denying his talent when he is on the field. As he enters his third year in the league, the end of his rookie contract is becoming a bit more imminent.
The running back market was set earlier this year when the Carolina Panthers signed Christian McCaffrey to a four-year, $64 million contract — which Barkley addressed on Wednesday.
“I always feel like I’ve got something to prove. That’s always been my mindset. Always going to try to be the best player and person that I can be, not only for myself but for my team,” Barkley said. “For me, I’m a big believer of taking care of the little things first. That’s right now coming into the meetings and try to be the best leader, the best player I can from this, I don’t know what size of a box you would call it. I feel like if you take care of that the other things take care of themselves in the future.
“[But] when Christian signed that big contract the first thing that came to my mind was I’m happy for him.”
The “shelf life” for a running back is not considered long, which is something Barkley saw up close and person when the Rams released the 25-year-old Todd Gurley earlier this year.
“Yeah, definitely shocking. I know TG pretty well,” Barkley said. “Obviously it sucks that he had to leave the Rams, but he’s got a fresh new start and hopefully he can remind the league of how dominant of a player he is. No, I don’t need Todd Gurley getting traded or cut or however it happened to remind me how the NFL is. That’s just the NFL that’s the business. That’s why you have to try to take advantage of it every single day you can.”
Barkley and the Giants offense are now working with offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. Garrett was with the Dallas Cowboys where his offense had some success in the rushing game before coming to the Giants this offseason.
“I like watching running backs and learning from them. It’s cool to be able to go back and see some plays that I’ve watched before, now actually be on this side and actually understanding the play behind it, how it works for [Ezekiel Elliott],” Barkley said. “For me, I’ve just always believed and was always taught to believe in yourself. I feel like every year I’m going to try to improve and with the help of not just Jason Garrett’s offense but with my work ethic and my team that’s around me. Not only myself as an individual, I feel like we can be more productive on the offensive side of the ball and obviously all three phases of the game, playing complementary football.”
Barkley is certainly among the league’s best running backs and could get even better in years to come. Barkley seems focused on taking care of business on the field instead of worrying about his future contract.
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