Tag: Kim Miale

Saquon Barkley adjusts representation ahead of Giants negotiations

With contract negotiations expected to continue this month, New York Giants RB Saquon Barkley made some adjustments to his representation.

The New York Giants and representatives for running back Saquon Barkley intend to meet face-to-face at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis later this month.

“The plan is to circle up with his representatives when we get to the Combine,” general manager Joe Schoen said on Tuesday at the Senior Bowl.

There, the two sides will reengage long-term contract negotiations a year after Barkley ended his holdout and reluctantly signed a modified version of the franchise tag.

But when Schoen takes a seat and looks across the table, it won’t be Kim Miale of Roc Nation looking back at him. Instead, it will be CAA’s Ed Berry, who took over late negotiations last spring.

After more than five years with Miale, Barkley has decided to go in a different direction.

From Pat Traina of Sports Illustrated:

According to NFLPA records, Barkley’s sole representation is listed as Ed Berry of CAA, a late addition to the running back’s existing team last summer as he and the Giants attempted to reach a long-term deal by the July 17 deadline.

When that date passed, the Giants and Barkley’s representation team worked out a one-year modified franchise tag featuring incentives that pushed the deal’s potential value to $11 million if those incentives had been reached.

With that deal having expired, Barkley is now looking at another round of negotiations with the Giants, who can apply the franchise tag on their star running back for a second and final time if they so choose.

This time around, Barkley is hopeful he can avoid the franchise tag. And if he can’t, he’s set a deadline for the Giants and Schoen to use it.

“They did it last year. So, I’m numb to it,” Barkley told reporters in January. “I don’t have any feelings toward that at all. If you’re going to do it, just don’t wait until March 5. Just get it over with. If not, let me go. Simple.”

The franchise tag window opens on February 20.

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Saquon Barkley not seeking $16 million from Giants?

Reports have persisted that Saquon Barkley is seeking $16 million annually from the New York Giants but that may not be the case.

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Dating back to last season, various and repeated reports have suggested that running back Saquon Barkley was seeking a long-term deal from the New York Giants that averaged $16 million per season.

As recently as April, that reporting persisted.

From Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News:

Barkley wants a multi-year contract, but his reps twice turned down a $12-12.5 million per year offer in November and January while seeking Christian McCaffrey money ($16 million).

That sentiment has been shared by Ralph Vacchiano of FOX Sports, Greg Johnson of the Times and Suburban, and several others.

But Barkley’s agent, Kim Miale, is now throwing cold water on those reports.

Miale’s denial of the $16 million demand came shortly after Bob Brookover of NJ Advance Media reported that Barkley and his camp rejected a deal that could have earned him up to $14 million annually.

The Giants, according to sources, offered Barkley a multi-year deal worth $12.5 million a season at the bye week, then increased that number to $13 million with a chance to get to $14 million in incentives shortly after the season.

Barkley rejected both deals. He and his agent Kim Miale obviously overestimated the running-back market. They could argue that Barkley doesn’t know his true value because he was blocked from testing the free-agent market after the Giants used the franchise tag on him.

Prior to the 2023 NFL draft, general manager Joe Schoen said that all offers to Barkley had been pulled from the table. However, once the draft concluded, he said the two sides would reconvene and that negotiations would be reopened.

It’s hard to know what’s true and what isn’t as these negotiations continue to play out through the media. But if Brookover’s report is accurate and Miale is being honest about not seeking $16 million, that would mean the gap between the Giants and Barkley has closed a bit. Perhaps they are, in fact, inching closer to a deal.

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