New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley was not in attendance for the beginning of the team’s voluntary offseason workouts on Monday, as expected.
Barkley is currently not under contract and cannot attend until he is. That would mean one of two things have to happen.
One is the Giants signing him to a new multi-year deal at the top of the market or better. The other is Barkley signing the franchise tag tender worth $10.1 million for one season.
The issue is neither side is interested in doing these things at the moment.
The Giants have pulled all offers to Barkley and intend on letting him play out the season on the tag. But Barkley has no intention of signing that tag anytime soon, reports ESPN’s Jordan Raanan.
Barkley has yet to sign the $10.1 million franchise tag the Giants placed on him after inking quarterback Daniel Jones to a monster deal last month. He doesn’t intend to sign anytime soon, either. That leaves open the possibility of skipping the entire spring, mandatory minicamp and potentially training camp. He would not be subject to fines because he hasn’t signed the tag.
Barkley is “unhappy” with the tag, a team source told ESPN in recent weeks. That is not likely to change unless there is an agreement on a lucrative long-term deal that pays him among the top running backs.
It’s important to remember that all workout sessions this spring are voluntary. The first mandatory workout players are expected to report for is the minicamp from June 13-15.
The Giants and Barkley have until July 17 to work out a long-term deal. If one can not be reached by then, Barkley’s only course of action is to play out the season on the tag or holdout entirely, which comes with its own set of problems.
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