In the NFL offseason, various players have signed lucrative contracts worth millions. However, it wasn’t the same for everyone. Saquon Barkley is one of such players who couldn’t get a long-term contract.
The football running back is extremely disappointed and isn’t staying quiet about the matter. He requested the team for a $22.5 million contract which got rejected. In a recent interview, he openly talked about the matter and shared his disappointment in the team and the way things have worked out.
Saquon Barkley blats Giants for rejecting long-term deal
The 26 years old appeared in The Money Matters podcast in which he discussed the negotiations leading up to Monday’s deadline for players on a franchise tag to reach a new multi-year deal with teams. However, they couldn’t sign any such deal.
Now the RB will have to play at $10.1 million, a fully-guaranteed one-year deal. Because the team wasn’t able to offer him the desired contract, the running back stated that he has decided to sit for the season and not play for the team. He shared that this is the only way to make the Giants realize his worth and his importance to the team.
“My leverage is I could say, ‘f— you’ to the Giants, I could say, ‘f— you to my teammates. And be like, ‘You want me to show you my worth? You want me to show you how valuable I am to the team? I won’t show up. I won’t play a down.’ And that’s a play I could use.”
Saquon Barkley reveals his desire to earn $22.5M contract
Barkley wanted the team to sign him a new contract worth $22.5 M. He even stated on different occasions that if he doesn’t get the deal he’ll sit out for the season. Now that the team hasn’t provided him with a new contract the RB is furious.
He is very confident in his skills as the 26-year-old stated that he is one of the best running backs in the NFL. Talking about his desired deal he said he isn’t even asking for what he actually deserves.
“I believe I’m the best running back in the NFL,” Barkley said. “I’m not even asking for what I’m worth. I wouldn’t say I’m not happy. Where I’m thrown off, or it doesn’t sit right with me, is I came out publicly and said that I want to be a Giant for life. I didn’t want to hit the free-agency market. I feel like we could’ve got the job done.”
The running back is adamant that he’ll not play for the 2023 season. Let’s wait and watch whether the Giants can persuade him to play on the current terms or they will have to provide him with his desired deal.
