It’s that time of year where people all over the country are waiting to see if star players will get traded before the start of training camp arrives. As you might have been able to guess, NY Giants running back Saquon Barkley has been linked to several teams, as he’s entering the final year of his contract with the NFC East side.
While Barkley had already been discussed in a deal to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to help out Tom Brady, it’s an AFC team that has now been brought up. In a piece for Bleacher Report, Ian Wharton came up with several different trade ideas for teams across the league. One of his ideas would send Barkley to the Kansas City Chiefs, with NY getting Clyde Edwards-Helaire and a 2023 fourth-round pick in return. This would really be something.
NY Giants trading Saquon Barkley to the Kansas City Chiefs would be wild
"“The New York Giants have a bad but expensive roster,” Wharton wrote on Barkley. “New head coach Brian Daboll would surely love to deploy a fully healthy Saquon Barkley in 2022, but the franchise has seen limited production and availability from the 2018 No. 2 pick. Trading his $7.2 million cap hit and getting a fresh look at Edwards-Helaire is the more prudent decision. Barkley, despite lacking the explosiveness he had before tearing his ACL in 2020, still has plenty of fans around the league thanks to his potential as a dual-threat back. His fifth-year option would allow Kansas City to take a one-year flier on him regaining his form. Barkley, unlike Edwards-Helaire, would clearly be the most talented back in a crowded room.”"
Barkley, who tore his ACL in the 2020 season, is coming off a rough 2021, but all signs are pointing to him getting back on track this year for the Giants. New York has a totally revamped offensive line and Barkley was moving around much more fluidly during minicamp. People are excited about what could get done this fall and winter by the former No. 2 overall pick.
Having said that, it feels like this really could be Barkley’s final season at MetLife Stadium. If he balls out and has a huge year, is general manager Joe Schoen really going to want to put a monster contract on the table for him? If Barkley struggles, then he’d likely be out the door too, unless NY is able to sign him to a cheap deal.
Should the Giants trade Barkley and get an exciting player like Edwards-Helaire, plus a draft pick, it could be more than enough to convince Schoen to make a move here. This is all just buzz as of now, but Wharton most definitely has Giants fans and Chiefs supporters thinking about his latest piece. This trade would rock the NFL as a whole, no question.