The Giants’ negotiations with Saquon Barkley have intermittently transpired since the team’s November bye, when the Pro Bowl running back received an initial offer. No offer is currently believed to be on the table for Barkley, who is attached to a franchise tag he has not signed.
Barkley is not planning to sign his $10.1M franchise tender any time soon, withholding services while attached to the tag. He cannot be fined for doing so. While Barkley has attended some Daniel Jones-led independent workouts, his absence certainly leaves a gaping hole on the Giants’ offense. The team, however, does plan to come out of the draft in better shape behind Barkley.
A mid-round addition at the position is expected, per the New York Post’s Paul Schwartz, who adds GM Joe Schoen has informed Barkley of the team’s plan to add here. The team is indeed likely to bolster its running back spot in the middle rounds, ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan tweets, noting an addition could come on Day 2.
Considering the needs the Giants have, a Day 2 backfield choice would be a newsworthy use of resources. But Barkley is unsigned beyond 2023. The team upped its offer to the $13M-per-year range ahead of the March deadline to use franchise tags, but Schoen confirmed the team pulled its revised offer. The sides should be expected to regroup ahead of the July tag extension deadline, but a midround add would stand to protect the Giants, who have been more closely linked to wide receivers and cornerbacks in Round 1. That said, the team has been loosely tied to Alabama dual threat Jahmyr Gibbs; Peter Schrager’s NFL.com mock draft sends the Alabama contributor to New York at No. 25.
The Giants traded the compensatory third-rounder they acquired in the Kadarius Toney trade in the Darren Waller deal, leaving the team with the standard three picks in the first three rounds. The Giants have only drafted one running back since taking Barkley second overall in 2018 — Gary Brightwell in the 2021 sixth round — so a second-day move would give the team a post-2023 option, in the event Barkley plays on the tag this year. Brightwell and Matt Breida reside as Big Blue’s top backup backs.
UCLA’s Zach Charbonnet, TCU’s Kendre Miller, Texas A&M’s Devon Achane, Auburn’s Tank Bigsby, Texas’ Roschon Johnson and Tulane’s Tyjae Spears profile as the second wave of backs behind first-round-level prospects Gibbs and Bijan Robinson. In the years prior to the Barkley pick, the last running back the Giants drafted before Round 4 was 2012 first-rounder David Wilson, whose career was cut short by a neck injury. It appears the team is prepared to deviate slightly from its modern strategy at the position this weekend.
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