Raiders Named Potential Suitor For Saquon Barkley In Free Agency

The Las Vegas Raiders may lose running back Josh Jacobs, but they could end up replacing him with Saquon Barkley in free agency.

According to Tyler Dragon of USA Today, the Raiders are one of a handful of teams that are expected to make a play for Barkley once free agency begins next week.

It would be kind of a strange move for Las Vegas, as the Raiders would basically be swapping two similarly skilled halfbacks.

Perhaps Jacobs simply does not want to return, or it could be that Las Vegas sees Barkley as a legitimate upgrade over Jacobs.

Barkley is not expected to return to the New York Giants, as his representatives met with Giants brass at the NFL Scouting Combine and did not exchange figures.

It does not come as much of a surprise, as Barkley played out the 2023 campaign on a franchise tag and has not been able to find common ground on a long-term deal with New York for over a year.

In 14 games this past season, Barkley rushed for 962 yards and six touchdowns while averaging a pedestrian 3.9 yards per carry. He added 41 catches for 280 yards and four scores.

It wasn’t exactly the best showing for a running back looking to cash in as a free agent, especially considering he missed three contests due to an ankle injury.

Barkley has a very checkered injury history, as he has not a played a full season since his rookie campaign in 2018.

When healthy, there is no doubt he is a terrific ball carrier. After all, he is just two years removed from setting a career-high with 1,312 rushing yards and making his second Pro Bowl appearance.

But that’s the issue: Barkley is rarely healthy, which will certainly have an impact on the type of contract he lands in the coming weeks.

We’ll see if the Raiders try and offer Saquon Barkley a contract once free agency kicks off next Monday.