Editor’s note: Rapoport has since walked back his initial report and says there is no offer on the table from the Giants.
The New York Giants and running back Saquon Barkley remain in a contract standoff. The 2018 NFL Rookie of the Year is seeking a long-term deal worth big money, while the Giants seem content with him playing out the season on the franchise tag.
Still, negotiations are ongoing and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that the Giants’ previous offer to Barkley, which general manager Joe Schoen said had been withdrawn, is “back on the table.”
From Inside Minicamps on NFL+: Reacting to the comments made by #Giants RB Saquon Barkley, who is still on the franchise tag. pic.twitter.com/0vUYwhjyYq
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 13, 2023
Or is it?
Contrary to what Rapoport has heard, Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News reports that the previous offer has not been put back on the table. At least not yet.
Ian reports that an offer the Giants pulled from Saquon just before the Daniel Jones signing is now back on the table. But I am told that as of this moment, per source, that is not true. This could be an interesting next month! https://t.co/8ROfVQiAbQ
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) June 13, 2023
These contradictory reports come after Barkley vented some frustration at a football camp over the weekend, expressing an annoyance over some of the negotiation leaks.
“We say ‘family business is family business’ in that facility, in that building, and I’m gonna stick to that,” Barkley said, via the New York Daily News. “The thing I’m frustrated most about is, like how I said ‘family business is family business,’ and then sources come out and stories get leaked, and it didn’t come from me … I feel like it’s trying to paint a narrative of me, a picture of me that’s not even the truth. It’s not even close to being true.”
Barkley, who had reportedly rejected a deal worth up to $14 million annually, also left open the possibility of sitting out the entire season if the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement by the July 17 deadline.
“I think that’s a conversation, like you said, that’s a card I could play,” Barkley said. “That comes up in conversation if something doesn’t get done by July 17. And we got a little bit of time in between there. So when that date comes up, then I’ll have to sit down with my team and my family and make decisions, see what we’re gonna do, what’s the game plan, what’s the next move.”
The drama continues.
