Giants' Saquon Barkley addresses why he didn't sit games out

New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley acknowledged Thursday he considered skipping training camp and even regular-season games after he failed to secure a long-term contract. 

"That’s a play that I had," Barkley explained about those protests, as shared by SNY and Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. "I’ll be completely honest — If I sat out this year and we didn’t have a good record, do you think that’s gonna make another team in free agency or the Giants want to have me come back the next year after I sat out a whole year? 'We want to give you $15M a year now.' I don’t think that’s how it’s going to work." 

Barkley suggested in an interview recorded earlier this month he could keep his franchise tag unsigned and remain away from the Giants through the start of the regular season without a long-term deal, which he failed to receive before the July 17 deadline for teams to sign tagged players to such agreements. He would've forfeited 1/17th of the $10.091M attached to the tag for each meaningful game he missed while sitting out, but he instead signed an adjusted one-year tag that could be worth up to $11M if he reaches certain incentives and the Giants qualify for the playoffs. 

"After having conversations and really breaking it down, you say the only way that I’m going to make a change or do something that’s gonna benefit for myself and my family is doing what I do best," Barkley continued. "That’s showing up, playing the game I love and do it at a high level" 

Before Barkley reported to the Giants on time for training camp, individuals such as franchise icon Ottis Anderson blasted the 26-year-old for not accepting a previous offer from general manager Joe Schoen that, per different stories, included around $23M-$26M in practically guaranteed money. According to Darryl Slater of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, Barkley said Thursday he didn't regret rejecting proposals presented by Schoen because signing one of them "didn’t make sense." 

The 2018 first-round draft pick didn't elaborate but admitted it would be "a flat-out lie" to say he isn't "disappointed" he's once again in a contract year. 

"But I am mature enough to understand that it’s a business and understand that deals don’t get done every year," he said. "Me and my team felt like we were in good faith trying to get a deal done. The Giants felt like they were in good faith trying to get a deal done. That’s life. Sometimes you don’t come to an agreement." 

Part of not coming to an agreement in this instance involved Schoen retaining the right to tag Barkley again next March, meaning the ball-carrier may find himself answering similar questions about his mindset roughly 12 months from now.