Insider shares offer Giants made Saquon Barkley before franchise tag

ESPN's Jordan Raanan has shared more information on the offer the New York Giants made running back Saquon Barkley before they used the non-exclusive franchise tag to keep his rights. 

"There was a three-year deal in the $13M per season range on the table earlier this offseason, sources have told ESPN," Raanan reported for a piece published Monday. "It could have reached close to $14M with incentives. The sticking point was the guaranteed money in the deal, which did not satisfy Barkley." 

As things stand today, Barkley is on track to play on the tag worth roughly $10.1M for 2023. 

After it was learned last week Barkley would not sign the franchise tag before New York began its voluntary offseason program on Monday, NFL insider Michael Lombardi suggested that the Giants could face potential locker-room issues by not paying the popular team leader and captain. 

"Giants ownership is cognizant of public discontent, especially from a team captain and the face of their franchise," Raanan added about Barkley. "They have to be careful playing hardball with perhaps the most respected player in their locker room. An unhappy Barkley, a captain since 2019, can have negative repercussions throughout the locker room." 

Ahead of the weekend, Giants beat writer Bob Brookover of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com explained how the club could potentially use a first-round draft pick on April 27 to acquire Texas Longhorns star running back Bijan Robinson and then rescind the tag on Barkley. 

Somewhat interestingly, NFL reporter Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post wrote for a piece published Monday that "Barkley might be treating the first round of the NFL Draft as the date to commit before another running back is added" because "the Giants have the seldom-used right to rescind an unsigned tag." Barkley would become a free agent if the tag was rescinded. 

For what it's worth, team co-owner John Mara declared late last month he wants Barkley "to be a Giant for his entire career." However, Raanan repeated a previous report and said that "the Giants don’t really need to do anything with Barkley and aren’t overly motivated to get a deal done" now that he's on the tag at a better price than what was attached to the contract offer his camp rejected.