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Buccaneers, 49ers Mentioned As Potential Trade Destinations For Saquon Barkley

New York Giants fans rejoiced when the team broke their mold, going into a full rebuild and looking outside of the organization to fill the general manager position. For too long the Giants were run like a mom and pop organization, keeping everything in the family. Saquon Barkley has started falling off a bit and there is speculation that he could be traded this offseason, possibly to either the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or San Francisco 49ers.

That has led to a ton of losing the last few seasons, but optimism has returned with Joe Schoen taking over as general manager from David Gettleman, who was public enemy No. 1 among the fan base. Gettleman left the franchise in worse shape than when he joined it, leaving plenty of work for Schoen and his staff to fix.

New York has virtually no cap space to work with, so the first order of business will be figuring out who to keep and who to let go. While that will be a difficult process, having no ties to players on the roster will make it a little easier to clean things up.

One of the biggest questions looming over the franchise this offseason will be what to do with running back Saquon Barkley. Barkley was inconceivably selected No. 2 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, the first selection that Gettleman made as general manager.

Selecting a running back in the first round, especially that high, is a terrible way to start off your tenure. As many expected, that selection is part of the reason the Giants are where they are. Barkley was a special talent coming out of Penn State, but the roster had so many other holes that needed addressing, such as the offensive line, selecting him was bound to doom the franchise.

Heading into his fifth season with the Giants, Barkley is due $7.2 million this season. An extension makes no sense for either side. New York cannot afford to pay a running back top dollar and Barkley wouldn’t cash in as he would hope given the injuries he has faced recently.

Barkley has appeared in only 15 games the last two seasons. When he has been on the field, the production hasn’t been great. But, when healthy, there are plenty of people around the league who believe he is a top running back.

With a cloudy future, Barkley was one of the players named as an under-the-radar trade target in a recent ESPN article. In that piece, the San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers were both mentioned as possible landing spots for him.

Barkley would shine in the outside zone-blocking scheme that the 49ers have developed with Kyle Shanahan leading the way. His pass-catching ability would also be put to good use with the 49ers.

In Tampa Bay, Barkley would have a shot at claiming the lead-back role with Leonard Fournette hitting free agency. With Tom Brady moving on, the Buccaneers may be inclined to bolster their running back depth chart as they will likely be running the ball a lot more in 2022 than they have the last two seasons.

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