Saquon Barkley still breaks tackles and runs away from defenders, but he couldn’t dodge the dreaded franchise tag.
As soon as quarterback Daniel Jones agreed to a new contract Tuesday, the Giants pivoted to franchise tagging Barkley to keep him from unrestricted free agency.
If the Giants had not re-signed Jones as tense negotiations reached a “take-it-or-leave-it” point, then the franchise tag would have gone to him instead before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline and Barkley would have been headed to the open market to determine his value.
It’s a suboptimal outcome for Barkley, who turned down a multi-year extension averaging about $12.5 million per year in November. That number increased slightly, according to league sources, as negotiations continued after the season, but now he is stuck facing the possibility of playing for $10.1 million in 2023.
Other holdups include the length of the deal (three or four years) and distribution schedule of guaranteed money.
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The Giants have an extension offer out to Barkley that he can accept, general manager Joe Schoen said last week, but it appears that they drew a much firmer line in the sand with him than with Jones – even after the latter shot for the moon by asking for $48 million per year after changing agents, per sources.
Barkley and Schoen met briefly Monday but not to exchange numbers.
“I think it would upset anybody,” Barkley told The Post after losing in the playoffs about playing on the tag.
Barkley does not have to immediately sign the tag and could choose to follow a common path for disgruntled players by not showing up for spring voluntary workouts.
That never has been Barkley’s way – propping up teammates when he was the lone bright spot amid losing, speaking with reverence about the franchise’s legacy and buying into all messaging — but unselfish behaviors didn’t pay off at the negotiating table.
