Giants star Saquon Barkley refuses to rule out sitting out the SEASON amid his ongoing contract deadlock with New York…as he prepares to skip minicamp with the July deadline in sight
- Barkley ran for over 1,300 yards and recorded 10 touchdowns last season
- But he has yet to make another deal and won’t be going to the Giants’ mini-camp
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New York Giants’ Saquon Barkley came to the center of attention on Sunday when he confirmed he would not be attending the team’s mandatory mini-camp because he was unable to agree on a new contract.
Barkley was tagged as a franchise by New York to prevent him from entering the free agent market this off-season, but the two-time Pro Bowler has yet to sign the tender that would net him $10.1 million next season.
The two sides have until July 17 to work out a new contract, but when asked about his optimism when it came to reaching a long-term deal, Barkley paused awkwardly, before saying: “I don’t know Real. Don’t know.’
“I think they’re open to conversation. I’m open to conversation,” Barkley added. “I think at the end of the day, if you really break it down and look at it as a whole, there’s no rush. There is still time on the table to get to July 17.
July 17 is not tomorrow. It’s not in a week. That’s how I look at it. Maybe that’s the naive way of looking at it, I could be completely wrong. But for me that’s how I look at it. I could be completely wrong. Hopefully. I trust the Giants that we can get something done.”
Giants run back Saquon Barkley has no plans to go mini camping without a new deal
The two-time Pro Bowler has yet to sign his contract with the franchise and is currently out of contract
He also stated that he has not ruled out the possibility of sitting out the season if the sides cannot agree on a contract.
“That will come up in the conversation if something isn’t done by July 17,” Barkley said, though he made sure to specify that he hasn’t given it much thought yet.
He also said, “Ultimately, it’s all about respect. It really is,” referring to the whole contract situation.
Barkley is coming off the best season of his career since his rookie year, recording 1,312 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground, while adding 338 receiving yards on 57 catches.
Despite the stellar performance on his way to earning his way into the Pro Bowl, Barkley has insisted he’s not trying to reset the running back market.
However, this has not prevented reports from circulating that he is both a $14 million offer and a $12.5 million deal from the team, largely due to disagreements over the guaranteed money and structure of the deals.
He ran for over 1,300 yards and recorded 10 touchdowns as he put together a stellar year
He would go on to say he was upset by the stories of the alleged offers and the perception that he was made to look “greedy” despite saying he wanted to be a giant for life.
“I was tagged, was I angry about it? Nobody wants to be tagged,” Barkley said.
“To sit here and say I was frustrated, I was angry, I was upset. What really upset me was the stories that had been leaked and how misleading they were and how untruthful they were.”
“I feel like it was trying to paint a story about me, paint a picture of me that isn’t even true. Not even close to the truth.’