• The New York Giants’ decision to not tag Saquon Barkley at $12.1 million for 2024 does make some sense. Doing so and not giving him the long-term deal he wants would probably lead to another contract squabble. He’s also going into his seventh year as a running back and has a significant injury history.
So there’s some logic to the decision here.
What I’m more interested to see is how other teams view him.
Clearly, he’s still the talent he was coming out of Penn State in 2018—a bigger back with the ability to break big plays and be a real threat in the pass game. And someone will value that, especially with a below-average class coming out at the position in the NFL draft, and plenty of personnel folks and coaches still hanging on to their evaluations from six years ago.
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But Barkley will be joined on the market by Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard (both were tagged in 2023), as well as Derrick Henry, D’Andre Swift and Austin Ekeler. So in that group, you have two former first-team All-Pros (Henry, Jacobs), three Pro Bowlers (Barkley, Pollard, Swift), and a back (Ekeler) with a 100-catch season to his credit. So if you’re a team needing someone at the position, it’s not like the supply-demand curve will be working against you.
Where does Barkley fit into all that? Again, it’ll be fascinating to see next week.
And I wouldn’t rule out a return to the Giants. Both sides have an interest in making it happen, and how that market shakes out will probably dictate whether it happens.
