New York Giants star running back Saquon Barkley knows how ugly contract negotiations can get with a team. This offseason, he went through it after the Giants placed the franchise tag on him and failed to work out a long-term deal before the deadline on July 17th.
That led to a short-lived holdout for Saquon Barkley, who many thought wouldn’t report to the team’s training camp. However, on the day the Giants were set to begin, Saquon Barkley signed a contract that included some incentives to raise his potential earnings in 2023.
The No. 2 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft came to the realization that he didn’t have any leverage to land the kind of contract that he was hoping to receive. Ultimately, he believed the best decision was to report to camp, get his work in and prepare for what he hopes is another productive season.
Saquon Barkley is far from the only running back who was impacted by the shift in thought about the value of a running back. Another player feeling that right now is Indianapolis Colts star, Jonathan Taylor.
The Colts made it clear that they were not going to offer him a long-term extension. He requested a trade earlier in the offseason, but that was denied. Alas, Indianapolis changed their stance recently, giving him permission to seek a trade
During a recent promotional event, Saquon Barkley talked to Fox News about the situation with Taylor and the Colts. He, for one, is hopeful that Taylor can land with a new team that respects and values him more than the Colts seemingly do.
“All I can say is that I know Jonathan Taylor is one of the best players in the league,” Barkley explained. “I see he had a down year last year battling some injuries. But he showed, when he’s healthy, what he’s able to do and what he’s able to bring to an offense and to a team.
“Hopefully the trade is able to go through, and he’s able to go to a team that respects him and values him, and hopefully he can go out and show out and put on this year.”
The Colts put a deadline of Tuesday in place for Taylor to find a team willing to trade for him. 4 p.m. ET is the deadline for all teams to have their rosters cut down to 53 for the regular season, so it makes some sense that Indianapolis would want a deal in place by then.
Saquon Barkley was able to work out something with the Giants, putting their differences aside for the betterment of the team. That isn’t something that seems feasible between the Colts and Taylor, as their relationship seems broken beyond repair.
