Free company ought to be wealthy with operating again expertise this offseason as a number of veterans are anticipated to hit the open market.
A type of is Giants RB Saquon Barkley, and normal supervisor Joe Schoen shared his ideas the previous No. 2 general choose.
“He is a captain. He is a frontrunner. He is a tough employee. I feel the world of Saquon and I nonetheless assume he can play. So, my worth for Saquon actually hasn’t modified.” Schoen advised reporters on the NFL Scouting Mix. “He is a man we would prefer to have again. We’ll see if we will get one thing performed with him.”
New York is just not anticipated to make use of the franchise tag on Barkley, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, however the crew is clearly nonetheless eager about exploring a long-term cope with him.
The 27-year-old is coming off a little bit of an underwhelming season the place he rushed for 962 yards and 6 touchdowns whereas including 41 catches for 280 yards and 4 touchdowns receiving.
His 2023 season wasn’t unhealthy by any means, however it was actually a step down from his 2022 marketing campaign when he ran for 1,312 yards and 10 touchdowns.
In accordance with Spotrac, Barkley is predicted to obtain a three-year, $29.9 million contract ($9.9M per yr) this offseason.
Whether or not that will probably be from the Giants stays to be seen, however when wholesome, Barkley continues to be probably the greatest operating backs within the league. If a crew can get two-time Professional Bowler for lower than $10M a yr, that appears like a steal.
The operating again place has by no means been valued much less, which might assist New York in its contract negotiations. Nonetheless, Schoen is aware of the most important unknown is how a lot Barkley values himself.
“I am unable to predict what is going on to occur with the operating again market. We’ll have a greater really feel right here in a few weeks,” Schoen added. “There’s a number of uncertainty as you go into free company as a result of groups can re-sign their gamers.”
