Giants' Saquon Barkley addresses possibly skipping games

New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley hinted any threat he could skip regular-season games beginning in September is mostly empty. 

"I can try to get as much money as I can, but what really matters is winning," Barkley said during a pre-recorded interview with "The Money Matters" podcast released this week, as shared by Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post and Manuel Gómez of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "I know if I’m able to help bring a championship to New York, that’s going to go miles more ahead than this contract." 

Dunleavy mentioned the interview occurred last week and before Monday's deadline for teams to sign franchise-tagged players to long-term contracts came and went without Barkley putting pen to paper on an agreement. The 26-year-old is on track to earn $10.091M via the franchise tag but could forfeit 1/17th of that money for each game he voluntarily misses while leaving the tag unsigned. 

Barkley suggested remaining away from the Giants through their regular-season opener against the Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 10 is on the table. 

"My leverage is I could say, 'F--- you' to the Giants, I could say, 'F--- you to my teammates,'" he explained. "And be like, 'You want me to show you my worth? You want me to show you how valuable I am to the team? I won’t show up. I won’t play a down.' And that’s a play I could use. Anybody [who] knows me, knows that’s not something I want to do. Is it something that’s crossed my mind? I never thought I would ever do that, but now I’m at a point where I’m like, 'Jesus, I might have to take it to this level.' Am I prepared to take it to this level? I don’t know." 

Barkley added he will speak with his family and representatives about what step to take beyond not reporting for training camp on time next week, but he also sounds committed to playing against Dallas and showing the NFL he's worth more than around $22.2M guaranteed -- the price of this year's tag combined with next year's. 

"If I do have to go on the field and prove and play again, I’m fine with that," he said. 

Most insiders believe it's a matter of when, not if, a disgruntled Barkley shows up in time to start against Dallas at MetLife Stadium on the first Sunday night of the season. However, his camp can use his training-camp absences as a negotiating tactic toward possibly getting the 2018 first-round draft pick more money for 2023 than what he's owed on the tag. Barkley also can, and may, request that the Giants put it in writing that they won't tag him next March.