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Fans of the New York Giants should not have any worries about star running back Saquon Barkley’s physical conditioning during his contract dispute with the club.
While Barkley has been prohibited from the Giants’ training facility until he either signs his franchise tag tender or a new contract, he has not been sitting on his hands waiting for the phone to ring.
He has been working out intensely, “spending more than three months” time this offseason training at Exos, a private coaching company, at its location in Phoenix’ as per Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post.
While his teammates ran through familiar drills at organized team activities and the minicamp in East Rutherford, Barkley stayed sharp under the eye of pro elite performance specialist Nicholas Hill, who took The Post inside the Pro Bowl running back’s private workouts.
“One of the big goals for him is he wanted to get back his speed burst that he felt like he had his rookie year,” said Hill, who has trained Barkley every offseason since he tore his right ACL in 2020. “He feels like he is 100 percent from the knee injury, but there’s still that little bit of another gear that he felt like he was missing.
“He definitely has that gear right now. The players did their throwing camp in Charlotte last week, and he said he’s never felt better or faster running routes.”
So there you have it. Let’s not forget that Barkley has also been documenting his progress on social media in workouts with other NFL stars such as San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel and even getting together with some of his Giants teammates, including quarterback Daniel Jones.
Barkley is currently facing a July 17 deadline to strike a new long-term deal with the Giants. After that, he’ll be limited to signing a one-year deal or playing under the franchise tag.
The other alternative is he holds out. The way he’s busting it out in the desert, that doesn’t seem to be his primary plan.