This offseason provided Saquon Barkley with glimpses into a pair of possible futures as two of the league's top running backs _ and two he is often compared with _ experienced the full range of NFL outcomes.
Christian McCaffrey signed a four-year, $64-million extension with the Panthers in April, making him the highest paid running back in the league, while Todd Gurley whose 2018 contract with the Rams had given him that title at the time, was released by Los Angeles. Gurley quickly signed with the Falcons.
Barkley is entering the third year of his rookie contract, which means talks for his extension should be just around the corner. The Giants know that. Just last month, general manager Dave Gettleman quipped that "after another year, you guys are going to be banging on me about Saquon." Now that the McCaffrey deal is done, Barkley is, essentially, the next big-name running back in line for a big-time payday.
"When Christian signed that big contract, the first thing that came to my mind was that I was happy for him," Barkley said on Wednesday, adding that he has spoken with his Carolina counterpart throughout the years and even worked out with him at one point. "He deserves it."
But Barkley said neither McCaffrey's nor Gurley's circumstances are weighing heavily on him.
"For me, I'm a big believer in taking care of and doing the little things first," he said. "Right now that's coming into the meetings and trying to be the best leader, the best player I can be in this box. I feel like if you take care of that, all of the other things will take care of themselves in the future."
While McCaffrey's contract showed the value some teams place on their running backs, Gurley's departure from the Rams illustrated how expendable the position can be.
"It was definitely shocking," Barkley said. "But no, I don't need Todd Gurley getting to remind me how the NFL is. That's just the NFL. That's the business. And that's why you have to try to take advantage of it every day that you can."
