The acrimonious offseason contract kerfuffle with the New York Giants hasn't soured Saquon Barkley from hoping to remain a Big Blue staple for his career.
Asked Sunday by Paul Schwartz of the New York Post if he still wanted to be a Giant for life, Barkley responded: "Oh, yeah. I don't think that really changed. They know how I feel. I'm not really too focused on that right now.''
Long-term contract talks between Barkley and the Giants left the running back openly frustrated at certain points during the process. After sides couldn’t agree to a multi-year contract before the July 17 deadline, Barkley signed a one-year solution, with incentives potentially pushing his total pay to $11 million before training camp.
Now, Barkley isn't sweating the situation.
"Once I made the decision I was going to show up and I was going to be there and do my job, you got to put all that aside,'' Barkley said. "Got to be mature about it.''
Added Barkley: "We made a decision; you got to put it to the side; you got a job to take care of. I'm here, and I'm ready for the season.''
It marked the first time Barkley had spoken publicly since July 27 -- the second day of training camp -- because he wanted to avoid persistent questions about his future.
"I just felt the questions would continue to be about the tag or the money situation,'' Barkley said. "It's in the past. I can't control that. I know I came out and tweeted, 'It is what it is,' and that's what I truly felt at the moment.''
With the one-year solution in place, how Barkley plays in his second season under head coach Brian Daboll will color where contract negotiations pick up once the season ends. With another franchise tag option at the team's disposal, we could be doing the Barkley Tag dance once again during the 2024 offseason.
