NY Giants Saquon Barkley problem just got a bit more complicated

A lot of NY Giants fans are sounding the alarms right now and we don't blame them. Everyone has been wondering whether or not star running back Saquon Barkley would be on hand Monday for the start of the official offseason program.

While there was hope No. 26 would be grinding with his teammates, that won't be the case. According to insider Kim Jones, Barkley not only won't be present, but he also doesn't plan on signing the franchise tag for the 2023 season either. Buckle up.

I’m told Saquon Barkley will not be signing the franchise tag & therefore will not be eligible to participate when the #NYG offseason program begins Monday. More to come on @NewsdaySports.
— Kim Jones (@KimJonesSports) April 12, 2023

NY Giants running back Saquon Barkley won't sign the franchise tag

This news on Barkley isn't a total stunner, but it's still something the Big Blue faithful didn't want to see happen. General manager Joe Schoen and Barkley's reps tried getting on the same page contract wise earlier this offseason, but nothing was able to get done.

In the end, the Giants inked Daniel Jones to his four-year, $160 million contract. Once they got across the finish line with Danny Dimes, the Giants didn't hesitate in using the non-exclusive franchise tag on Barkley, which will pay him $10.1 million for next season.

However, Barkley doesn't want to play on the tag. He's hoping to get a long-term contract done with the team sooner than later. Keep in mind that the Giants offered a deal worth around $12 million during the bye week last fall, but the speedster turned that down.

Who knows how high Schoen is willing to go, but there's no chance he'll put $15 million a year on the table for Barkley. Moving forward, we'll have to just wait and see if Barkley ends up getting his payday or not, but there isn't a lot of optimism there.

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