Monday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline for long-term extensions on franchise tagged players came and went without the New York Giants and star running back Saquon Barkley getting a new deal done.
The two sides failed to agree to a deal before the deadline after New York placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on Barkley in March. According to Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post, the Giants refused to up their offer of $11 million per year with just north of $22 million fully guaranteed. New York’s offer was reportedly within $1 million to $2 million of Barkley’s reduced asking price. Barkley will instead earn $10.091 million under the non-exclusive franchise tag in 2023.
Per NFL insider Jordan Schultz, Barkley will hold out and won’t report to training camp. The 26-year-old, meanwhile, appeared to express his frustration on Twitter.
“It is what it is,” Barkley tweeted.
Barkley, the two-time Pro Bowler, is coming off one of his best seasons to date in the NFL. He rushed for a career-high 1,312 yards on 4.4 yards per carry and 10 touchdowns. Barkley added 57 receptions for 338 yards through the air.
NFL running backs sound off on Saquon Barkley not receiving long-term extension
With Barkley becoming the latest tailback to be denied a long-term extension, the Tennessee Titans’ Derrick Henry sounded off on the way the position is treated around the league.
“At this point, just take the RB position out the game then,” Henry tweeted. “The ones that want to be great & work as hard as they can to give their all to an organization. Just seems like it don’t even matter. I’m with every RB that’s fighting to get what they deserve.”
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris echoed Henry’s thoughts.
“I agree with my running back brothers around the NFL,” Harris tweeted. “History will show that you need running backs to win. We set the tone every game and run through walls for our team and lead in many ways- this notion that we deserve less is a joke.”
Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler lambasted the NFL for treating them like “discardable widgets.”
“This is the kind of trash that has artificially devalued one of the most important positions in the game,” Ekeler tweeted. “Everyone knows it’s tough to win without a top RB and yet they act like we are discardable widgets. I support any RB doing whatever it takes to get his bag.”
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