Saquon Barkley is not happy.
After failing to come to an agreement with the New York Giants on a long term extension by last Monday’s 4 p.m. deadline, the star running back is mulling his options including sitting out the entire season.
Barkley admitted in an interview last week that he’s considered the implications of holding out while appearing on “The Money Matters” podcast on YouTube.
“My leverage is I could say, ‘f you’ to the Giants, I could say, ‘F you to my teammates,’” BarAnd 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,” Barkley said. “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. That’s something I have to sit down and talk to my family, talk to my team [of advisers], and strategize about this. Can’t just go off of emotions. I can try to get as much money as I can, but what really matters is winning. 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.”
Former Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro running back Le’Veon Bell experienced a similar situation in 2018, and he followed through on the threat to hold out, missing the entire season. He hit the free agency market in 2019 and signed with the New York Jets on the type of deal he hoped to get from the Steelers: a four-year, $52.5 million contract.
Sitting out would be a huge blow to the Giants who are coming off a promising season in 2022 where they made the postseason in Brian Daboll’s first year as the head coach. Barkley was a huge part to the turn around, racking up a career-high 1,312 yards last season, which ranked as the fourth-most in the NFL and the most by a Giants player since Tiki Barber’s 1,662 in 2006.
