Joe Schoen doubles down on his Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley stance at the NFL Combine

For the first time since shortly after the 2022 campaign came to a close, NY Giants general manager Joe Schoen stepped up to the microphone to meet with the media. As you might have been able to guess, he was immediately asked about how things are going in terms of the contract talks with Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley.

With Schoen and others at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, the new deals for Barkley and Jones are of course a major talking point, while there’s still the possibility that one of them could be placed on the franchise tag.

For a while now, Schoen has made it quite clear that he wants both guys to return to East Rutherford next season. He doubled down with that feeling, telling reporters in Indy that he’s cautiously optimistic that something will be able to get done with the two offensive standouts.

The NY Giants are working to bring back both Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley

Schoen added that he is hoping to avoid the franchise tag altogether here and just ink Jones and Barkley to new deals. If the Giants were to use the non-exclusive franchise tag on Jones, it would result in a $32.4 milllion cap hit (his salary for 2023), which would be a massive blow. Schoen acknowledged that it would hurt the team from being able to build around Danny Dimes.

Meanwhile with Saquon, Schoen also said there’s still a bit of a gap in the negotiations, but the talks are ongoing. If the Giants end up tagging Jones, then it feels the likely result would be Barkley becoming a free agent and inking with a different team this offseason. Schoen and NY fans don’t want to see that happen.

Schoen has until March 7 to make a decision when it comes to the tag. While he’s going to be busy checking out prospects at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, he can’t lose focus on trying to get deals done with No. 8 and No. 26.

Both Barkley and Jones were fantastic during their first year working with head man Brian Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka. The two were a major reason why the Giants were able to go 9-7-1 during the regular season, and record the upset win over the Vikings in the Wild Card Round.

Because of the big campaign, both players are looking for huge paydays. It’s on Schoen to make that happen or not.

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With the 2023 NFL Combine finally upon us, here are seven players Joe Schoen and the New York Giants should have their eyes on.