INDIANAPOLIS — The odds are against the New York Giants using the franchise tag on running back Saquon Barkley, but general manager Joe Schoen said the team still considers it a possibility.
“I wouldn’t say the franchise tag is off the table, no,” Schoen said Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Using the franchise tag on Barkley for a second straight year would cost $12.1 million, a number Schoen noted is not much more — approximately $200,000 more — than if the team were to put the franchise tag on a running back for the first time.
“The salary cap changes your philosophy on how you’re going to attack things. That’s not off the table,” Schoen said. “We don’t want to do it. In a perfect world, we don’t want to do that again.”
It also likely would not sit well with Barkley, 27, who has made it clear for more than a year that he does not want to be tagged. After totaling a career-high 1,312 rushing yards in 16 games in 2022, he and the Giants couldn’t come to an agreement on a long-term deal and Barkley settled for an adjusted franchise tag in the offseason.
At the end of the 2023 season, Barkley said he was “numb” to the possibility of being hit with the franchise tag for a second time and was skipping the Giants’ open-door policy exit interviews.
“I went through the whole process last year. We talked more than enough last year, to be honest. I’m gonna let my agents handle that,” Barkley said in January.
Schoen said Tuesday the team already has plans to meet with Barkley’s representatives this week.
“The conversation, the plan all along, was to meet here in Indy and have those discussions about how we’re going to move forward with him,” Schoen said. “He’s a guy we’d like to have back. So, those conversations will take place this week, and we’ll see if we can get something done with him.”
Schoen acknowledged the past struggles over the franchise tag with Barkley but expressed optimism about coming to an agreement with the two-time Pro Bowl selection.
“I think we’ve all grown, Saquon, myself, the organization, through the last 12, 13, 14 months,” Schoen said, noting that Barkley’s new agent, Ed Berry, is someone they have a “really good” relationship with.
“Saquon may be in a different place now than he was then in terms of understanding the market and the business side of it. I’m looking forward to having those conversations with him.”
Drafted by the Giants with the No. 2 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Barkley started all 14 games he played in last season, rushing for 962 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 41 passes for 280 yards and four scores.
In six seasons with the Giants, Barkley has rushed for 5,211 yards and 35 touchdowns on 1,201 carries in 74 games (all starts). He also has 288 receptions for 2,100 yards and 12 touchdowns.
–Field Level Media