As NFL running backs around the league who were up for new contracts were bypassed in favor of the franchise tag, that seems to indicate a shift in today's thought process regarding the position.
But while running backs are a dime a dozen, very few are truly special talents worthy of mega-deal consideration. New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley is one such player, according to the man who made him the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 draft.
Dave Gettleman, who retired as the Giants' general manager after the 2021 season, recently spoke to the Boston Globe from his home on Cape Cod, calling Barkley a "touchdown scorer" and insinuating that a respectable payday for the six-year veteran should be a no-brainer given his rare abilities.
"When you build a team, on offense, about the quarterback, it's about the offensive line, and it's about touchdown scorers," Gettleman said. "Saquon Barkley is a touchdown scorer from anywhere on the field. And, oh, by the way, via land or air, he can be in the Army, or he can be in the Air Force. You can't put that in an analytic formula. I know that every time Saquon touches the ball. There aren't a ton of those guys; they're rare."
The problem that Gettleman didn't address in the article is that Barkley has dealt with injuries in four of his six seasons, including a torn ACL and at least two known high ankle sprains, including one he's currently dealing with this season.
Injuries aside, which makes a heft investment in any player a gamble, Barkley hasn't quite been able to replicate the production he had in his rookie season when he had 15 touchdowns, 11 via the run and four via the air, his 2,028 scrimmage yards, or his 721 receiving yards.
While a large part of that has been due to the missed game time, another part has been due to the two coaching staffs that followed Pat Shurmur, his coach in 2018, relying a little less on Barkley in the pass slightly differently.
“My [comparison] was two running backs who really aren’t used in the pass-catching game, more downhill runners — great running backs," Barkley said during an appearance on The Money Matters podcast before training camp began. [The Giants] already showed me their hand: They told me my comp, and I know their [pay]. If that’s what you are telling me, and I know what they signed for, what are we really talking about?
“After hearing that, they tell you, ‘This is the type of player you are.’ I’m like, ‘Eh, no. I can catch the ball. I had 91 catches, the rookie record for running back.”
Another factor that has potentially worked against Barkley is that unlike in previous Giants regimes where one player--Odell Beckham Jr and Barkley--was the core of the offense, the Giants' current regime appears to have built an offensive weapons cadre that allows the coaching staff greater flexibility in who is the featured player any given week.
Barkley still has a lot of value in that his presence helps the Giants if they want to go play-action or RPOs. Quarterback Daniel Jones has enjoyed a much higher completion percentage this year when operating out of play-action (73.3 percent) versus standard operations (61.2 percent). Barkley is a big reason for that.
So why not pay Barkley if he's that special of a talent? The injury history, along with the ongoing struggles to field a competent offensive line to even allow for Barkley and the rest of the weapons to find success, are probably why any chance of the running back seeing a contract that comes close to matching what 49ers star Christian McCaffrey ($16 million APY) is currently earning is unlikely to happen for Barkley in New York.
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