ew York Giants running back Saquon Barkley ended this season not knowing if he’d be playing for the only professional team he’s ever played for next season. And while he might have been indifferent about returning when he spoke to reporters a day after the Giants’ 2023 campaign ended, Barkley, who is set to hit free agency next month, has since reiterated that he hopes to be a Giant for life.
“I know how special the Giants organization is,” Barkley told ESPN when asked why he wants to remain a Giant. “I have nothing but tremendous respect for the Tisch family and the Mara family. This is the team that drafted me. I’m a big believer in setting and accomplishing goals.”
One of those goals was to win a championship with Big Blue.
“When I got drafted here, it was to be why the Giants was back on top and why we were having a parade in New York,” said Barkley, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 draft. “It just hasn’t gone that way so far in my career. Like I said before, I want to be a Giant for life. I mentioned that I want to be in the likes of Tiki [Barber], Michael [Strahan], Eli [Manning].”
While Barkley would like to finish his career as a Giant, the veteran understands the nature of the NFL and free agency. After going through a sometimes contentious contract negotiation with the Giants last off-season in which the stalemate was finally broken just before the players reported to training camp with Barkley signing a one-year modified franchise tag, Barkley knows things can change quickly, especially as a free agent.
“It’s a business,” Barkley said. “If this was my last season, I had a blast, but the beauty is, there’s still a lot left in the tank. If I’m not a New York Giant next year and I’m somewhere else, they will get the leader. They’re going to get a hard worker; they’re going to get a competitor and someone who will compete at a high level to win football games.”
Although the Giant’s season was unsuccessful, on top of him not getting the multiyear contract he hoped for, Barkley says he never thought about sitting out.
“I’ve got a job to do,” Barkley said. “I had a C on my chest for a reason. It’s bigger than that. Obviously, the offseason didn’t go the way we would’ve liked. I wasn’t able to come away with a long-term deal. I put in a tweet, “It is what it is.” So when I got there, it was to keep the main thing the main thing: to go out there and compete at a high level with my brothers.”
The New York Giants are 1-5. The future may still be bright, but the playoffs are a pipe dream for the 2023-24 season. With the Oct. 31 NFL trade deadline less than two weeks away, should the Giants be sellers? Should they listen to offers for Saquon Barkley? If they sell, who else should be made available?
We put these questions to the Big Blue View staff. Here are their answers.
Rivka Boord
It’s very difficult to say anything but yes. This Giants season is lost, and keeping around players who aren’t part of their future is foolish at this point. At the same time, tearing it all down after Year 2 of the Brian Daboll-Joe Schoen era is a tough ask. It’s a principal-agent problem, in a sense — what’s best for the team is not necessarily the best for the decision-makers’ career prospects. Therefore, even though I think the team should sell, I’m not convinced that they will.
As readers may know, I was not a fan of extending Saquon Barkley in the offseason. However, watching this offense, I think it’s pretty obvious that the Giants need him. I’d be hesitant to trade the one guy who can make the offense tick unless Schoen thinks he can fix the entire offensive line in one offseason. I’m more inclined to franchise tag him a second time, as foolish as that may sound.
I can understand why they’d trade Barkley, though, and he does seem to be the most obvious candidate. Leonard Williams is also a clear-cut option if someone is willing to take on his remaining salary. If they don’t plan on re-signing Adoree’ Jackson, they should definitely trade him, as well. Although he has graded out extremely poorly this season (37.0 Pro Football Focus coverage grade), he has a solid track record and can likely garner a decent return.
There are other, lesser players to consider trading, like Parris Campbell, Jihad Ward, and Bobby McCain. I’m not convinced the Giants can get anything for them, though. Campbell (50.8 PFF grade) and Ward (34.4) are both performing miserably this season, and McCain has been relegated to special teams duty. Still, they’re veterans with cheap contracts, so perhaps some team will take a chance on them for a late-round pick or pick swap. Ward is unlikely to be traded because of Azeez Ojulari’s injury, but I would still consider it because he is not much of an upgrade from the Giants’ backup edge defenders.
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