Saquon Barkley and the Giants couldn’t find middle ground on a new contract and now literally could be 2,400 miles apart when training camp opens.
The two sides failed to reach an agreement on a multi-year extension by the NFL-imposed 4 p.m. Monday deadline, sources told The Post, leaving Barkley with a tough decision to make regarding if and when to sign his franchise tag.
The tag is a one-year, $10.1 million deal.
Barkley almost certainly will skip camp and continue his private personal training at Exos in Phoenix to both protect his body against the physical toll of practice and send a message of discontent, but he could drag his signing into the regular season if he is willing to miss weekly paychecks.
The Giants could rescind an unsigned tag at any point, pivot to a different backfield and leave Barkley as a free agent with running backs Dalvin Cook and Ezekiel Elliott, but that is considered unlikely because they see the full Barkley on- and off-field package as a value at that price tag.
Weeks of silence in negotiations gave way Monday to swapping final offers.
Barkley previously had rejected a contract worth $13 million per year but with only $19.5 million guaranteed, so the Giants upped the guaranteed to slightly north of $22 million but lowered the average annual value, according to sources.
The $22 million is a relevant number because that is in the ballpark of what he would earn ($22.2 million) if he plays on the tag in 2023 and is tagged again coming off a strong season for 2024.
So, the Giants will enter training camp with a backfield of Matt Breida, Gary Brightwell, Jashaun Corbin and rookie Eric Gray unless they make a move.
They also have to wonder if not signing Barkley sends the wrong message into the locker room about taking care of their own players when teammates see a productive co-captain who said all the right things and was a NFL Man of the Year Award nominee not finally rewarded.
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Barkley must decide whether to risk his upward career trajectory by sitting out part of a season (like Melvin Gordon) or a full season (like Le’Veon Bell), knowing that neither of those backs was ever the same.
He also has to consider whether private training will have him as ready to be effective and resistant to injury as a regular camp with teammates.
In other words, this is a regrettable conclusion to a tense negotiation for both sides.
The franchise tag gave the Giants all the leverage and Barkley added agent Ed Berry of CAA as co-representation with Kim Miale of Roc Nation last month in hopes of jumpstarting talks.
Christian McCaffrey (49ers), Alvin Kamara (Saints) and Derrick Henry (Titans) all have more than $22 million guaranteed on their contracts, and Cook and Elliott topped that number on past deals with the Vikings and Cowboys, respectively.
All five of them and Nick Chubb (Browns) had deals paying at least $12 million per year as of last season.
Barkley, 26, is coming off a career-high 1,312 rushing yards in the regular season and a career-high 377 offensive touches including the playoffs.
He made $38.6 million over the first five years of his career with the Giants and has been candid about wanting to play his entire career in New York and earn a spot in the franchise’s Ring of Honor.
Even if Barkley plays and performs great in 2023, negotiations could resume in a stalemate in January.
