Giants GM addresses future of star RB

New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen has indicated he’d like star running Saquon Barkley to stick around beyond the 2023 NFL season but only at the right price.

“Listen, Saquon is a very good football player, captain last year,” Schoen said during a Thursday appearance on the NFL Network “Good Morning Football” program, per Kevin Patra of the league’s website. “He’s a good locker room guy. I love him. We want him to be here. But you’ve got to have a deal where both parties are happy with where you end up. That’s what we’re going to try to work for and see if we can get something we can both agree on.”

The Giants used the non-exclusive franchise tag to retain Barkley’s rights for 2023 on March 7, and the 26-year-old has protested that decision by remaining ineligible to participate in the offseason program because he hasn’t signed the tag. It was reported in April that Barkley’s camp “had a three-year deal in the $13M per season range on the table earlier this offseason” before Schoen utilized the tag. That offer has since been rescinded. 

Schoen hinted before the 2023 NFL Draft that Barkley may not be with the Giants for Week 1 of the upcoming campaign, and some suggested New York could take a potential replacement for the two-time Pro Bowl selection in the first or second round of the draft. The Giants instead waited until the fifth round to grab Oklahoma Sooners ball carrier, Eric Gray.

Barkley and the Giants have until the July 17 deadline for teams to sign tagged players to come to an agreement. Otherwise, he will have to either play on the $10.091M franchise tender for 2023 or forfeit money by sitting games out. 

Schoen told “GMF” he reached out to Barkley’s representation last week to help determine “the appetite” for signing a deal. 

“At some point over the next couple of days, we’ll circle back up, and we’ll have some conversations as to where we are, where they may be, and see if we can get something done,” Schoen added. 

Schoen sounds unlikely to cave regarding any requests or demands Barkley’s people have made since the end of the 2022 campaign. The second-overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft bet on himself by not signing what the Giants previously offered, and it seems he lost that wager as it pertains to money guaranteed to him beyond 2023.