Saquon Barkley will be a member of the Giants for at least another season.
Moments after it broke that the organization had come to an agreement with Daniel Jones on a contract extension, word came out that the Giants had used the franchise tag on Barkley just before the 4 p.m. ET deadline on Tuesday. The tag will cost the Giants $10.1 million next season.
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The Giants did meet with Barkley’s camp on Monday briefly in what NFL Network categorized as a “positive meeting.” General manager Joe Schoen had also expressed cautious optimism that a deal could be worked out to keep both players on the roster for next season.
However, the Giants’ priority had clearly been Jones throughout the offseason and if a deal with the quarterback hadn’t been reached, they would have used the tag on him rather than Barkley — spelling the end of the running back’s time in East Rutherford. Instead, the dominos fell just the right way to keep both players in blue next season.
Similar to Jones, Barkley had a comeback season of his own appearing in every game for New York for the first time since his rookie year and setting a new career best with 1,312 yards on the ground. He finished the year with 10 rushing touchdowns and added another 338 receiving yards.
Barkley also earned a trip to the Pro Bowl this season and was third in voting for NFL Comeback Player of the Year.
It was no secret that the running back had wanted to remain with the Giants. The two sides did discuss a contract extension during the bye week.
“Everyone knows I would love to be a Giant for life, but I can’t really give 100 percent answers because it’s out of my control,” Barkley told reporters after the Giants had been eliminated from the playoffs. “Sometime this week, I’ll have a conversation with my agent Kim and see what’s up.”
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