The New York Giants are stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to the status of running back Saquon Barkley. After the two sides were unable to agree on a long-term contract ahead of the Monday deadline, his status for training camp and the start of the 2023 season is up in the air.

It has already been reported that Saquon Barkley will not be reporting when the Giants open up training camp next week. There have also been reports that he is willing to sit out games and hold out, as the franchise tender worth $10.1 million is all that he has to sign to play this season.

This is a situation that could get ugly as Barkley holds all of the cards. Where did things go wrong between the two sides? In the opinion of Colin Cowherd, it was when the Giants signed quarterback Daniel Jones to a long-term deal earlier this offseason.

On his radio show The Herd on FS1 and Fox Sports Radio, he shared his opinion on the matter. He believes once Jones received his long-term deal before the franchise tag deadline, which led to the Giants using it on Saquon Barkley, the entire situation changed.

“The minute you gave Daniel Jones that money, you changed the temperature in the room,” said Cowherd.

Cowherd is likely onto something there. Once Jones signed a deal to set the market and give the impression that the quarterback was the most important player on the team, things changed for how Saquon Barkley was perceived.

But, based on some stats that Cowherd provided, the Giants seem to have gotten this one backward. While it is easy to assume most quarterbacks perform at a higher level when they have a strong running back to rely on, that isn’t always the case.

Jones’s production craters without Saquon Barkley in the lineup as he is the most important player on that offense. He provided stats for Kirk Cousins, Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert, who all have played with strong running backs but either improve or see no change in their performance without those stats in the backfield.

Saquon Barkley, not Jones, is the player that determines the level that the Giants play at offensively. General manager Joe Schoen did bring in some weapons to help elevate the passing game around Jones, but it could be all for naught if Saquon Barkley is not in the lineup in Week 1.