New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen has been making the bye week rounds in recent days, and he’s had a lot of interesting things to say.
While meeting with reporters on Tuesday, Schoen indicated that the team will discuss potential contract extensions for a number of players this week, including quarterback Daniel Jones and running back Saquon Barkley.
Schoen later told NFL insider Peter Schrager that he prefers to keep a talented core of inherited players, again naming Barkley and Jones alongside of Andrew Thomas, Dexter Lawrence and a small handful of others.
Things were taken a step further on Wednesday afternoon when Schoen joined WFAN’s Tiki and Tierney.
“Saquon is a culture guy that fits into everything we’ve asked,” Schoen said. “He’s a captain and he’s a very good player at his position who’s having a very good season. So, he’s a guy obviously we’re going to do our due diligence on and we’d like to keep him around here, so we can get into contract extension talks.
“You have a value for a player, where we see him and why and then knowing that you do have the franchise tag as a tool in your tool box.”
If the Giants were ultimately forced to use the franchise tag on Barkley, they would be projected to pay him $12.6 million guaranteed in 2023. That’s a number that would work, but ideally, the two sides would agree to a long-term contract extension — something that could happen as early as this week.
“Saquon and I have a great relationship,” Schoen added. “I’ve talked with him (and) told him I’d like him to be here, and I think he’s in the same boat. So, we’ll see if we can work something out here at some point.”
After several injury-plagued seasons, Barkley has bounced back in a big way here in 2022. He looks more explosive and dynamic than ever, and is currently second in the NFL in rushing (779) and second is yards from scrimmage (968).
