Giants Not Expected to Tag Saquon Barkley, NFL Insider Reports
What a difference a year has made for the New York Giants and running back Saquon Barkley.
A year ago, Barkley was coming off his first fully healthy season since his 2018 rookie campaign, a season in which he set a new career high in rushing yards (1,312) and was an instrumental part of an offense that contributed to a 9-7-1 record and the team's first postseason berth since 2016.
But after failing to agree on a multiyear deal of which at least three different proposals were submitted starting in the 2022 bye week and running up until just before the start of the 2023 free agency period, Barkley ended up signing a modified franchise tag worth $11 million (including incentives that weren't reached).
This year, however, the Giants are unwilling to take the same route with Barkley if they can't agree on a new deal that would be cap-friendly to the team and be considered fair by the player. For weeks, it's been believed that the Giants are trending toward not using the franchise tag, which would cost them $12.1 million this year, and would instead be willing to let Barkley test the market.
ESPN's Adam Schefter is the latest to report that this is how the team may move forward regarding Barkley.
The running back market is much different this year than last, when Josh Jacobs (Raiders) and Tony Pollard (Cowboys) were tagged by their respective teams, thereby thinning out the veteran market at the premium level.
That isn't expected to be the case this year, as Barkley will have competition from those veterans, along with others such as Derrick Henry (Titans), Gus Edwards (Ravens), D'Andre Swift (Eagles), and Austin Ekeler (Chargers), for the free agent dollars spent on a position that has seen its value decline in the league in recent years.
It's thought that the Giants and Barkley could enter into a handshake agreement in which the running back will bring any offers he receives as a free agent back to the Giants to see if there's an interest in matching. Barkley, who has on several occasions said he would like to be a Giant for life, told the New York Post during the Super Bowl that he'd be open to such an arrangement.
The Giants have until March 5 to use either the franchise or transition tag on one of their pending free agents. There has been some early speculation that the team might use the transition tag on safety Xavier McKinney to ensure they'd automatically have a chance to match any offer sheets he received in the market.
