Saquon Barkley and the New York Giants surprisingly came to an agreement on a negotiated franchise tag for the 2023 season this week. That was a big surprise, as Barkley had made noise about sitting out regular season games after long-term contract negotiations fell short.
On Thursday, Barkley admitted he was disappointed with how the process played out, but accepted that both sides felt they had negotiated in good faith. The running back credited an “epiphany” with his change in stance and his decision to sign the re-negotiated tag.
“Specific to my position, we didn’t get a deal done,” Barkley said, via Jordan Ranaan of ESPN. “Me and my team felt we were in good faith trying to get a deal done. The Giants felt they were in good faith trying to get a deal done. That’s life. Sometimes you don’t come to an agreement. I had to come to a decision and, like I said, I had an epiphany. I had a mindset of what I was going to do. I changed my mind.
“I’ll be completely honest, if I sat out this year and, say, the New York Football Giants, we didn’t have a good record, do you think that is going to make another team in free agency or the Giants want to have me come back the next year after I sat out the whole year and be like, ‘We want to give you $15 million a year now?'” Barkley added. “I don’t think that is how that is going to work.”
Barkley was pretty explicit in warning that he was willing to sit out games even after long-term contract talks failed to produce a deal. He ultimately made a last-minute decision that taking that route would not be beneficial for him, a lesson at least one other back had to learn the hard way.
The 26-year-old running back is coming off a season that saw him tally 1,312 rushing yards and ten touchdowns for a Giants team that reached the playoffs for the first time in Barkley’s career.
