New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley. Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Saquon Barkley, Giants reach rare agreement

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Steve DelVecchio | Last updated 7/25/23

New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley has ended his holdout, but he will not have to play under the franchise tag this season.

Barkley and the Giants on Tuesday agreed to a new one-year contract that could be worth up to $11 million, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports. The deal includes a $2 million signing bonus.

As Rapoport notes, the deadline for franchise tagged players to work out long-term extensions with their teams was July 17. However, the two sides are still able to negotiate a one-year deal to avoid the franchise tender, which is what Barkley and the Giants did.

When a player doesn't do a long-term deal by the mid-July deadline, the only option is a 1-year deal. But the two sides can negotiate that 1-year franchise tag into a 1-year new contract. It's very rare. But that's what happened here. Smart on all sides. https://t.co/grHYJmYGpT

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 25, 2023

Barkley would have earned $10.1 million if he played under the franchise tender. The new deal has the same base value, but he can earn nearly $1 million more in incentives. Barkley also gets $2 million up front in a signing bonus, which he would not have gotten with the franchise tag.

The development was not expected, especially after the comments Barkley made recently about not showing up to work. Giants fans will be pleasantly surprised that the focal point of their team’s offense is reporting to training camp.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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