Following Derrick Henry and Nick Chubb's contract history on a possible deal for Saquon Barkley
By Doug Rush
What kind of deal could Saquon Barkley get?
Very limited details of the reported contract extension Saquon turned down during the 2022 season have been revealed, but it seems like it has been reported around the $12.5 million range. Given the current running back market, it may not have been wise for Barkley to reject that offer, or any other reported offer.
Miles Sanders and Jamaal Williams both got offers for less than $10 million per season. Austin Ekeler was given permission to seek a trade from the Los Angeles Chargers and was unable to find one. Even Henry's name came up under possible trade talks that never amounted to anything.
Aside from Ezekiel Elliott being released by the Dallas Cowboys and still currently un-signed heading into 2023, Dalvin Cook was also released as well by the Minnesota Vikings and he is also looking for his next home heading into the season.
The fortunate thing for Barkley is that he's still considered at the top of his position, although it's a position that has become a bit devalued in today's league. Even so, teams still rely on the running game to win football games and the Giants have relied on Barkley to be a major part of their offense since his arrival in the league back in 2018.
Unfortunately for Barkley, the ACL injury back in Week 2 of the 2020 season set him back, and potentially pushed back any potential contract extension possibilities. Had Barkley not suffered the injury, there's a good chance that Barkley might have received a similar contract around the time of Chubb. But Saquon had to spend the 2021 season recovering from the injury and spent it playing at limited speed before showing the league he was still a dominant player in 2022.
Back in May, we had predicted that the Giants and Barkley would agree to a three-year, $36.5 million deal with $25 million guaranteed. It mixes what Chubb got as far as years in a contract goes along with the amount of guaranteed money Henry got in his. Barkley has talked about getting that kind of respect from the Giants. Given he was one of the few bright spots during the bad years of the team, Barkley has earned that respect.
All eyes will be continued to watch as this unfolds between the Giants and Barkley between now and July 17. If they are able to get the long-term deal done, this may give the Giants fanbase a possible idea of when and even how much it takes to seal the deal.
Tennessee got it done with Henry, as did Cleveland with Chubb, and they continue to be at the top of the NFL class. The majority of the Giants fanbase hopes the Giants can do so with Barkley before the start of the 2023 season.
READ MORE: Ian Rapoport all but rules out Saquon Barkley holding out