There are currently 3 NFL backs, Barkley, Pollard, and Josh Jacobs that were given the Franchise Tag.
Last week, Mike Florio wrote a piece about it. He indicates that no FA back got more then $6.5 million, and that since the Tag is $10.1 million, that each of the three of them would be wise to signed the Tag immediately.
Not signing the Tag could result in a player being cut at any time and it would be extremely unlikely to not take a significant 2023 paycut should it happen.
Pollard apparently agreed with that thought process, and on Thursday he signed his Tag from the Cowboys.
Do I think the Giants would just cut Barkley? No. But the market has now set Barkley's value, and clearly he and his agent misjudged it.
Both sides want a deal, but how do you get it done? Today John Fennelly at Giants Wire offers his take on solving this:
Get Barkley to sign a 3 year contract at about $26 million, and do the guaranteed dollars at $13 million. This still gives Barkley the 2023 dollars apparently offered by the Giants just before the Free Agency market began and it provides him a long term agreement.
For the Giants, it gets them a lower CAP number for 2023 (by about $3 million). The average value for the 3 years would be just under $9 million, which is far more that the $6.5 max seen for other quality backs.
Everything is moving in the right direction for the Giants. The owners, coaches, and players all love Barkley.
It's best to get this issue behind the team and avoid an offseason distraction.
Fennelly's proposal is reasonable for both sides and at the very least provides the framework of how this, or a similar deal, resolves this matter.
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I assume Schoen is trying to get him to sign a fair market value contract.
Maybe Barkley is waiting yo see if Pollard now signs a long term contract with Cowboys after agreeing to sign his tag.
It sure as hell won’t be at $12.5 million per year.
It’s clear teams value these players by giving them the franchise tag since $10M isn’t exactly chump change, but they have seen the results of overpaying RB’s. Even Henry, who is built like a tank, missed half of the 2021 season and played injured through a good part of the late 2022 campaign.
Just ask Julian Love- who was a respected Team Captain and huge part of the 2022 D.
At the end of the day, its a business.
Barkley has already earned over $38 million in his 5 years as a Giant. With another contract like this, his lifetime earnings as an NFL running back will be near the top of the all time earnings scale at the position.
When you have respected analysts like Daniel Jeremiah saying that this draft is loaded at RB, and that you can get a starting running back in the 5th round, you simply can't leave the last Giants offers to Barkley on the table.
Because it would be best for both parties to avoid the tag, I expect a deal will be reached. But I doubt Saquon is a Giants past the 24 season.
Pretty sure he would have if it was still an option. Pretty catastrophic miscalculation on his teams part.
I wouldn't be surprise if SB's agent has reached out and JS ghosted him, not saying JS pulled the offer but certainly going to make SB and his agent come to him vs neg against himself. Instill a little fear that the offer may get pulled without pulling it.
exactly my thoughts.
I think Pollard is better than average.
The tag is actually more than the going market value for RB’s this year.
If Barkley signs the tag he is making more than market value for a RB.
This is on Barkley not the Giants
We learned a lot about Schoen in the Love negotiation. Love apparently had a better offer from the Giants. And when he couldn't find a better offer from other teams, he learned the Giants offer was off the table.
Schoen will be a GM for many years. He has a lot riding on this as a new GM and his reputation around the League. He simply can't leave the bye week offer, or the last offer just days before FAgency to remain for Barkley. Those ships sailed.
Every NFL agent and NFL GM will be monitoring how Schoen handles this situation and it will say a lot about how Schoen handles all future contracts with Giants players.
This negotiation needs to be at a new starting point, and based on the current market. Something similar to what Fennelly suggests is where this needs to be finalized.
And don’t worry about him pouting because he still has to play for next year’s salary if he signs the tag. I don’t think him playing half assed or being a locker room cancer will enhance him getting paid any more than that. Besides, 10 M ain’t too shabby….I expect SB will give it his all and not be another KennyG.
Because it would be best for both parties to avoid the tag, I expect a deal will be reached. But I doubt Saquon is a Giants past the 24 season.
Saquon works best at around 15-20 Carrie’s a game. Maybe 25 every now and then
That 30 plus games vs Texans beat him up( shoulder too)
Would love to see what Corbin has and draft a rb in mid rds
I also thought brightwell ran hard and moved chains enough to warrant some more snaps. Breida does a few solid things too.
I think that ship has sailed.
The clearest evidence that Sanders and Montgomery are in a different echelon is also the most obvious: they weren’t tagged. It might be possible to infer broad market direction by comparing those deals to what the top untagged backs got in prior years. Even if that comparison suggested a decline, it would still be a logical leap to assume that the market for the best RBs moves in parallel. There might be a widening spread between the two groups if, for example, teams conclude that backs like Sanders are easily replaced, but a true stud like Jacobs isn’t.
Ezekiel Elliott
Leonard Fournette
Kareem Hunt
Are you considering what options are available to Barkley? Because right now there are only two:
1.Play on the Tag
2.Sign a reasonable contract
I can tell you that this Giants fan would be very disappointed in Schoen if Barkley's prior offers from the Giants remain available to him
Totally agree. I was just suggesting that there are multiple ways to look at the RB market. The weak market for 2nd-tier backs might reflect a stagnant or falling tide that sinks all boats, as I think you suggested. Alternatively, it just might reflect a kind of “flight to quality”, where the top properties hold or even gain value while everyone else languishes.
I think the reality is somewhere in between, but probably close to your hypothesis. I was just pointing out that we won’t know for sure where the Jacobs and Barkley situations are headed until they play out. Pollard offers some clues, but he was almost certainly the most replaceable of the three tagged backs. (I imagine Jerry still has the number for Zeke’s agent, and there are Pollard types of varying quality sprinkled throughout this draft.)
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Is still a dynamic player, running backs, including him, often do not age well. He has been injured often, and probably will never be the player he was his rookie season.
Because it would be best for both parties to avoid the tag, I expect a deal will be reached. But I doubt Saquon is a Giants past the 24 season.
Saquon works best at around 15-20 Carrie’s a game. Maybe 25 every now and then
That 30 plus games vs Texans beat him up( shoulder too)
Would love to see what Corbin has and draft a rb in mid rds
I also thought brightwell ran hard and moved chains enough to warrant some more snaps. Breida does a few solid things too.
I would use him even less. To me, Barkley is wasted lining up in the backfield and being slammed in between the tackles 20 times per game. Use him like teams used Sproles, albeit with more touches. But get creative with him to get him into space, along with giving him some carries out of the backfield and routes put of the backfield, too. He still should be on the field on as many plays as possible (especially given the dearth of talent at wr).
As you said, Brieda and Brightwell can be used as the primary workhorse pounders. Barkley as weapon.