The New York Giants and running back Saquon Barkley failed to reach an agreement on a long-term deal on Monday, muddying already unstable waters.
Barkley is now expected to skip training camp with the possibility of sitting out a portion of the regular season, although that remains an unlikely outcome. Still, feelings have undoubtedly been hurt in this process and Barkley’s future in East Rutherford beyond 2023 is unclear.
If and when Barkley returns to the team remains to be seen and that’s created anxiety among Giants Nation. That was certainly evident in how fans reacted on social media following the news of “no deal.”
Here’s how Giants Twitter reacted in the aftermath:
#Giants fans seeing that Saquon Barkley and the Giants reportedly won’t be coming to terms on a long-term deal #NYGiants pic.twitter.com/4iQRZvunH0
— BetFTW (@Bet_ForTheWin) July 17, 2023
Hard to believe it's come to this. No deal. https://t.co/wq69OXTuxa
— Kim Jones (@KimJonesSports) July 17, 2023
See you in August, Saquon. Where I fully expect him to sign tag and be ready for season. https://t.co/IQ6v5wYXXI
— The Giant Insider Newspaper & Podcast (@GiantInsider) July 17, 2023
Don't expect to see Saquon Barkley in #Giants training camp. The watch is on to see if he is there by Monday of Week 1.
— Ryan Dunleavy (@rydunleavy) July 17, 2023
Running back market really has hit rock bottom
Can’t blame Schoen for not caving and overpaying
Part of the business. Not a fun part but 🤷♂️
— Brody (@ItsGiantsSzn) July 17, 2023
My sense is that #Giants and Saquon Barkley were not as far away as some say. But both felt like they had given a lot already.
— Ryan Dunleavy (@rydunleavy) July 17, 2023
Mama, don't let your babies grow up to be running backs… https://t.co/uaKqFTwKbg
— Ian O'Connor (@Ian_OConnor) July 17, 2023
Don’t show till week 1 https://t.co/9VUpCFtXM6
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) July 17, 2023
Wow. I can't say that I expected the #Giants to do anything other than re-sign Saquon Barkley to a multi-year deal. With the former GM, this was a stone cold lock.
Schoen has a different plan and evaluation on the RB position & how much cap should be allocated in a roster build.— Dan Schneier (@DanSchneierNFL) July 17, 2023
Idk why any Giants fan wouldn't be rooting for a player to take up less cap space with less risk involved as well.
Saquon Barkley will play for the Giants this year and help them win games. Giants get to have their cake and eat it too.
— Bobby Skinner (@BobbySkinner_) July 17, 2023
I’m proud of Joe Schoen. He stood his ground the entire time.
— 𝙅𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨 (@DanielJonesMVP) July 17, 2023
No deal…it’s Daniel Jones fault
Deal…John Mara pulling stringsNot hanging in clown town with you weirdos today. pic.twitter.com/z2Ucvlo4uY
— NYGcrush🍎 (@NYGcrush) July 17, 2023
Joe Schoen didn't cave in.
John Mara looks to not have got in the middle of this one.
I think this was a bad lose lose either way but I don't think this was the right choice not to give him a deal.
— Mace (@realmaceblack) July 17, 2023
I would have bet my life Saquon signed a deal and reports would have surfaced that John Mara got involved the last hour. I think the best news today is that this is fully Joe Schoen’s operation and that is an incredible thing to know
— Nicky Snacks (@NickySnacks_) July 17, 2023
How we feeling Fam? Are you shocked? Or did you think they would reach an agreement? I can’t say I’m all that shocked that a deal didn’t get done. #NYGiants #NYG #TogetherBlue https://t.co/w39VF0yURV
— Nikki Gist (@NikkiNic9384) July 17, 2023
Giants fans in 2 years and will look back and see this was the smart thing to do https://t.co/Wbc1ttjaVr pic.twitter.com/WJ2qU19Ph5
— Quez (@QuezIsGodly) July 17, 2023
Here's the gamble @saquon Barkley took by turning down a reported multi-year deal with guarantees of just over $22M (the franchise # for this year and 2024): If he gets hurt or has a bad season playing on the $10.1 M franchise tag, nobody will be offering $12M next year.
— Gary Myers (@GaryMyersNY) July 17, 2023
How You Pay Daniel Jones But Not Saquon?? Giants Fumbled This.
— APW Sports (@APWSports) July 17, 2023
See you in September🫡
— Danny King (@DannyKing___) July 17, 2023
💔💔
— JPinny (@Jason_Pinnock) July 17, 2023
Saquon has the ability to get paid $10 million dollars next year and will have gotten paid close to $50 million dollars when it's all said and done.
It's a tough spot, but we are happy that we aren't paying him beyond next year.
— Mr. Glass Half-Full (@MisterGHF) July 17, 2023
Easy for me to say Saquon should have taken the deal but what’s the end game for him here?
Sit out and forfeit 10M?
Play and bank on the Giants not tagging him next year?
Then bank on the RB FA market booming suddenly in 2024?
Seems like a bad decision.#NYGiants…
— Tommy (@TommyG105) July 17, 2023
Well this is going to be messy. But Schoen did what he thought was best for the football team. Its unfortunate it came to this. Just hope we get a motivated Barkley and this does not fracture the locker room. I expect Barkley to be playing vs Dallas.
— The Entertainah (@TheEntertainah) July 17, 2023
