You just knew sports media personalities were going to be out in full force on Monday after Saquon Barkley spoke about his contract issues Sunday night. In case you missed it, the NY Giants stud said he's unsure if a new deal with be signed by July 17. He also isn't ruling out sitting out this season.
If you ask Colin Cowherd, this has been a problem for the Giants for a long time. Matter of fact, Cowherd thinks this could have all been avoided had the G-Men prioritized Barkley for a long-term deal and placed Daniel Jones on the franchise tag instead.
Cowherd, who hated the $160 million deal for Jones, can't get over the fact that general manager Joe Schoen broke the bank for Danny Dimes instead if getting things done with Barkley first. He made that much clear on his latest show:
"They should have franchised tagged Daniel Jones. Instead, they're trapped."
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) June 12, 2023
— @ColinCowherd explains why Saquon Barkley holds the leverage pic.twitter.com/TPnXEUlGPw
Colin Cowherd has called out the Giants for how they've handled the Saquon Barkley talks
In his usual fashion, Cowherd didn't hold back with his comments about Jones and Barkley. Cowherd said the Giants essentially gave Jones double the money he's worth, and that he's a mediocre quarterback when Barkley is on the field. Without him? That's another story.
Cowherd is saying that Jones and the Giants need Barkley more than he needs them. While you could argue the Giants should have placed the tag on Jones over Barkley, we can't forget that the cap hit on Jones had Schoen gone that route would have been $32.4 million.
That would have put the Giants in a huge financial bind. By placing the tag on Barkley, the cap hit for '23 is $10.1 million. That's more than $20 million of a difference. Schoen really didn't have a choice there.
Unfortunately, things have been rough in the Saquon talks and no one knows how his story is going to end. Giants fans want Barkley back with the team in East Rutherford as soon as possible. It's on Schoen to make that happen, but Cowherd thinks he messed up big time in focusing on Jones over Barkley in the first place.