The New York Giants and running back Saquon Barkley came close to an agreement on a long-term deal Monday, but they ultimately fell short as the 4:00 p.m. ET deadline passed.
Just how close were they on a deal? Close enough that it shouldn’t have been an issue.
Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post reports that the Giants and Barkley came within roughly $2 million of a new agreement that would have locked the Pro Bowl running back up long-term.
The Giants’ final three-year offer was in the ballpark of $11 million to $11.5 million per year with guarantees between $22 million and $23 million, multiple sources told the Post.
Those numbers were all within $1 million to $2 million on both ends of Barkley’s reduced asking price.
Either way, the numbers were close enough that common ground seems easy to find with incentives over the first two years, but both sides felt that they had budged as much as they could.
The fact that neither side was willing to budge at the very end means that Barkley will now skip training camp and the preseason, and may very well hold out into the regular season. However, if the 26-year-old opts to take that route, he stands to lose even more financially.
Because no deal was reached, all negotiations on a long-term deal must be tabled until after the season. Barkley can either sign the franchise tender and earn $10.1 million guaranteed this season, making him the fourth-highest-paid running back in the league, or he can hold out. The Giants could also rescind his franchise tag, making Barkley a free agent, but that seems unlikely.
“He wants to be in New York and New York wants him there,” one league executive told The Post. “That’s what makes this unexpected.”
Apparently neither side wanted it enough.
