Saquon Barkley ended his holdout from the New York Giants‘ training camp after agreeing to a revised one-year deal earlier this week. While fellow franchise-tagged running back Josh Jacobs continues his absence from the Las Vegas Raiders’ practices, Barkley explained on Thursday why he decided to come to camp.
Saquon Barkley Details His Thought Process as He Returns to Giants
Barkley had been set to earn $10.09 million on the franchise tag after failing to agree to a long-term extension by the NFL’s July 17 deadline. On Monday, he signed an altered deal that will allow him to earn a bit more via incentives.
Barkley’s new contract is worth $11 million, but that extra $910,000 is only available via incentives. In order to cash in on those incentives, the Giants have to make the playoffs, and Barkley has to rush for 1,350 yards, post 65 receptions, and score 11 touchdowns. Each feat would be worth $303,000.
The former first-round pick had previously suggested he could hold out into the regular season as a negotiating tactic. Asked about that strategy on Thursday, Barkley said he considered going that route.
“Yeah, I was,” Barkley said. “That’s a play that I had. But I’ll be completely honest: If I sat out this year and we didn’t have a good record, do you think that’s going to make another team in free agency or the Giants want to have me come back the next year after I sat out a whole year and be like, ‘Oh, we want to give you $15 million a year?’
“Like, I don’t think that’s how it’s going to work. After having conversations and really breaking it down, the only way that I’m going to make a change or do something that’s going to benefit myself and my family is doing what I do best. That’s showing up, playing the game I love, and do it at a high level.”
Barkley said he doesn’t regret turning down extension offers from the Giants, who reportedly proposed a multi-year agreement that would have paid him $26 million over the first two years of the deal.
“I said I wasn’t trying to reset the running back market,” Barkley said. “I said I wanted something that is respectable. If I felt like it was something respectable, I would’ve took it. I looked at my mom, my dad. I looked at my team, looked at my family. And I didn’t agree with it, so I didn’t take it. If I felt like it was (respectable), I would’ve.”
Barkley did not receive a no-franchise-tag clause for 2024 as part of his revised contract. As such, the Giants can tag him again next season while giving him a 20% raise. Barkley would be entitled to $12.109 million next year.
“I can sit here and lie to you and be like, ‘I wasn’t disappointed,'” he said. “But that would just be a flat-out lie. But I am mature enough to understand that it’s a business and understand that deals don’t get done every year. Me and my team felt like we were in good faith trying to get a deal done. The Giants felt like they were in good faith trying to get a deal done. That’s life. Sometimes you don’t come to an agreement.”