After months of speciation and back-and-forth as to whether New York Giants star running back Saquon Barkley would sign his franchise tender for the 2023 season, the former Penn State star did just that on Tuesday.
The Giants tagged Barkley on March 7. With little to no movement on getting a long-term deal done, and with the July 17 deadline passed for tagged players to reach a long-term situation, this was all that was left for Barkley.
Barkley Could Have Held Out And Taken A Stand
His options were accepting a contract that he feels is below his market value or sit out the 2023 season. The 2018 No. 2 overall pick chose to suit up for the upcoming 2023 season.
The deal will pay Barkley up to $11 million in salary, with a $2 million bonus due at signing. Giants GM Joe Schoen naturally sounded pleased in a statement following the huge news.
“Obviously we are glad we were able to work things out with Saquon,” Schoen said in his statement. “We all recognize the player Saquon is and what he means to our team. He is a good teammate, a leader and a really goof player. We are looking forward to getting on the field Wednesday.”
Barkley can’t be happy. As it stands he’s making less tOn Aug. 8, the Baltimore Ravens handed Justin Tucker the biggest contract ever signed by an NFL kicker: four years and $24 million, which also reportedly includes a record $17.5 million guaranteed. But the deal doesn’t kick in until after the 2023 season
Running Backs Aren’t Getting The Bag
The running back position use to be the second-most important skill position on an offense after the quarterback. But, with the changes in offensive philosophies, teams are using more of a running back by committee. Therefore there’s this growing philosophy that the position isn’t as important anymore, and therefore top backs aren’t being paid as handsomely as they once were.
Barkley was one of three elite backs this offseason who had the franchise tag applied to them. The others were Las Vegas Raiders star Josh Jacobs, who led the league in rushing last season. The other was Dallas Cowboys rising star Tony Pollard. Jacobs refuses to sign his tender, and was reportedly seen at the airport heading out of town as the team convened for the start of training camp. While Pollard, who’s coming off of injury, did put pen to paper and sign his tender.
It’s a growing trend amongst the RB fraternity, and for everyone upset with Barkley for signing, this could very well be his last double-digit payday in his career, so he wasn’t going to be the guy to challenge the structure of a changing financial market.
Daniel Jones Is Happiest Man In NYC
The signing of Barkley instantly takes pressure off of quarterback Daniel Jones, who got his big deal this offseason in huge part because of Barkley. After a couple of injury riddled seasons, Barkley bounced back in 2022, rushing for 1,350 yards and 10 touchdowns.
He also had 65 receptions a team-high for the G-Men.
