In general manager Joe Schoen’s second off-season with the New York Giants, he will have a number of difficult decisions to make. At the top of the list of decisions facing the Giants’ front office are Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley.
In fact, Pro Football Focus ranked Barkley at 14th overall on their list of top 50 free agents going into the offseason:
14. RB SAQUON BARKLEY, NEW YORK GIANTS
When healthy, there is no question Barkley is a difference-maker on the ground and through the air. That may be understating things, as he was a significant chunk of the Giants’ offense in the 2022 regular season. Barkley accounted for nearly 30% of New York’s total yards on offense in 2022. His usage appeared to have caught up with him at times, but that illustrates how much he did for the team in every conceivable way.
While we’re a few years and injuries removed from Barkley’s historic rookie campaign in 2018, during which he racked up more than 2,000 all-purpose yards and a staggering 91 receptions, Barkley will be just 26 for the 2023 season and has a very high floor wherever he ends up. His 32 explosive rushes this season tied for the fifth most among running backs, and while the upside of him breaking off a big gain is where a lot of his value lies, it’s also notable that he dropped his rate of stuffed runs down to 6.8% in 2022 compared to 9.2% over his three healthy seasons when he tried to bounce too many runs outside instead of trusting his blocking.
Barkley, of course, was riddled by injury for the better part of the last couple of years before putting a comeback player of the year bid in 2022.
Barkley and the Giants tried to get a contract extension done during the bye week but the two sides were reportedly not close to coming to terms on a deal.
Barkley returned to being a playmaker this season and Schoen did say he wanted to retain him. Having said that, one has to wonder how much the Giants are willing to spend on Barkley given his injury history and the structure of the offense Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll ran in Buffalo before coming to the Giants.
Jones did not make PFF’s list of the top 50 free agents. However, three former Giants did make the list, two of whom were on the roster last season: Dalvin Tomlinson (15th), James Bradberry (16th), and Evan Engram (50th).
