Rather than holding out, running back Saquon Barkley went against the advice of his agents and signed a modified franchise tag in order to return to the New York Giants this season.
The adjusted deal, worth $10.1 million with $900K in incentives, was far from the compensation Barkley had been seeking. Some reports suggested he wanted upwards of $16 million annually on a long-term deal.
Ultimately, Barkley couldn’t stay away from the sport he loves or the teammates he considers brothers.
But things have not gone well for the Giants or Barkley. They are currently mired in a 2-8 season and the vast majority of incentives Barkley signed for will not be reached.
In the end, Barkley received nothing more than the bare minimum. And now, with quarterbacks Daniel Jones (knee) and Tyrod Taylor (ribs) out, he’s been forced to carry the load. He’s battling through a high ankle sprain that was reinjured in Week 10 and is poised to see an even larger role down the stretch.
The Giants have nothing else, so riding Barkley into the ground is their only option. And as he plays through injury, the veteran back can’t help but to be a little sour.
“Loyalty means nothing,” Barkley told reporters on Thursday. “Loyalty, that doesn’t mean anything. No matter how loyal, no matter how committed you are, it’s a business at the end of the day. That’s something that I’ve learned.”
It is a business and most NFL running backs have learned that the hard way in recent years. But Barkley tries not to think about it and sounds annoyed that he’s even asked.
“For me, the way I try to handle that is to not really focus on that, try my best not to think about it. I feel like every week, I have to answer a question about it, which I get it, you guys are doing your jobs, but that’s the only time it really crosses my mind to be completely honest. Because if not, I would go insane. I would lose my mind if I was able to focus on that,” he said.
Even though Barkley tries to push all of that to the back of his mind, he realizes he’s burning tread off his tires with such a significant workload. Each hit he takes is another dollar out of his pocket when it comes to contract negotiations during the offseason. His loyalty, which he doesn’t feel was reciprocated, is now causing self-harm.
“It’s really crazy when you break it down like that,” he said. “Just the way the business is when you’re a premier back in this league, not to talk about myself, they feed you the ball because it helps you and gives you an opportunity to win games more times than not. When it comes to contract or a certain time, you’re a running back, you’re having so much miles on you. It’s a crazy thought process.”
Barkley also seemed to leave the door open to joining another team, which is something he previously stated he’d rather not do. He has been a “Giants for Life” guy but his tone has shifted every so slightly.
“Whenever the opportunity comes that I have to talk about the contracts again, whether it’s with the Giants or with another team, hopefully I’m able to pull up film and pull up numbers to be able to get myself a contract that’s the best for me and my family,” he said.
The constant losing and perceived lack of loyalty is clearly wearing on Barkley. The Giants had previously informed him that they’d like to negotiate a long-term deal this offseason but we’ll see if that actually comes to fruition.
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