Saquon Barkley has mostly stayed silent on his contract negotiations with the New York Giants.
Until now.
The two sides were unable to agree to a long-term deal, which resulted in Barkley being franchise-tagged.
According to NBC Sports, the Giants offered the running back $13 million per year, while Barkley wanted $16 million. But the Giants were pulling their offer if the tag was applied.
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Barkley says that report, though, is all nonsense.
The running back tweeted two hat emoji to signify the report is “cap.”
For those unfamiliar, “cap” in today’s slang means a falsehood.
There are a lot of rumors swirling around Barkley, so it’s unclear what he’s calling out. Maybe he’s saying it’s all fake news.
ESPN reported earlier Wednesday that his status for Week 1 is “in jeopardy” if he and the Giants don’t agree to an extension by Monday. That is when his $10.1 million franchise tag will be locked in for the 2023 season.
The Giants and Barkley will have until 4 p.m. that day to iron something out. If not, Barkley will be making a big decision about what to do for 2023.
Another ESPN reporter came to Barkley’s defense, saying Barkley was never offered $26 million as NBC Sports reported, nor did he think a $16 million salary was even “realistic.”
SAQUON BARKLEY’S WEEK 1 STATUS ‘IN JEOPARDY’ IF GIANTS DON’T REACH LONG-TERM DEAL: REPORT
“Me getting tagged, was I upset about it? Nobody wants to get tagged,” Barkley told ESPN in June. “To sit here and say I was frustrated, I was mad, I was upset. … What really got me upset was the stories that got leaked out, how misleading they were and how untruthful they were.
Barkley finished with 1,312 rushing yards last season, good for fourth in the NFL, while totaling 10 touchdowns on the ground.
Daniel Jones, who signed a four-year pact this offseason that locks him in as the team’s franchise quarterback, completed 57 passes to Barkley, tied for the team lead in 2022.
The Giants went 9-8-1 in Barkley’s first fully healthy season since 2018. He missed three games in 2019 due to an ankle sprain, tore his ACL in Week 2 of 2020 and then suffered another freak ankle sprain in 2021 that forced him to miss four games.
Fox News’ Scott Thompson contributed to this report.
