To pay or to enot pay? The New York Giants and running back Saquon Barkley are headed towards another offseason of negotiation, trying to bring the two-tim Pro Bowler back to the Meadowlands for the foreseeable future.
However, it’s likely headed toward Barkley hitting the open market and seeing what potential deals other teams could offer him.
It’ll be interesting to see how this situation plays out. Barkley doesn’t want to leave and has made it clear numerous times he wants to remain a Giant for life. However, this is a business, and he understands that.
The now-27-year-old had 962 rushing yards and six touchdowns on just 3.9 yards per carry, a step down from his 1,300-yard season in 2022. The Giants know Barkley isn’t getting any younger and had another season where he battled injury, missing four games due to a high ankle sprain.
If the two sides head for a split, Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report thinks the Baltimore Ravens would be the best spot for Barkley’s services, his reasons being as follows:
[Barkley] would benefit from playing with star quarterback Lamar Jackson. Even under new offensive coordinator Todd Monken this past season, the Ravens were once again one of the best-rushing teams in the league. They were first in rushing yards per game, first in rushing attempts per game, and they averaged 4.9 yards per carry as a team.
A Ravens rushing attack featuring Jackson and Barkley would be a sight. Considering Jackson’s evolved as a passer and doesn’t have to rely on his legs as much as in previous years, he still posted 821 yards on the ground in 2023.
Adding Barkley to one of the league’s best rushing attacks could mean only good things for the future of his career. He wouldn’t have to worry about rushing behind an inept offensive line as he’s had to deal with during the entirety of his tenure with the Giants.
”Barkley splitting the rushing load with Jackson could prolong both of their primes and improve an already elite rushing attack,” Ballentine notes.
Ballentine listed five other teams as landing spots for Barkley, including the Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, and Minnesota Vikings. But of those, the Ravens sound like the best fit.
If the Giants allow Barkley to test the market, they probably wouldn’t be too thrilled if the running back were to pit one of New York’s division rivals against them. So if not Baltimore, the next best logical fit for Barkley, in our estimation, is the Texans, where they already have a promising young quarterback in CJ Stroud and appear to be a team that’s further ahead in their rebuild than the Giants.
The Giants could still use the franchise tag on Barkley, but there has been growing sentiment that New York, who refused any opportunity to trade Barkley last year for draft picks, won’t go that route out of respect for the former Penn State star. While that would be a risk, it’s also worth noting that this year’s free agent running backs class is shaping up to be a loaded one, which is projected to include Derrick Henry, Austin Ekeler, Tony Pollard, and Josh Jacobs.
There’s no guarantee that Barkley will find the market he thinks he deserves at this point in his career, but stranger things have happened. And how the Giants handle this situation before the March 5 deadline to apply the franchise tag will certainly be worth watching.
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