Barkley limps forward with no guarantee of return for lost season
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Saquon Barkley’s right ankle can only take so much. That’s the latest reason why this horrific Giants season might get worse, starting with Sunday’s visit to the Washington Commanders.
Barkley didn’t play the final 10 minutes of last week’s 49-17 blowout loss at Dallas. A Cowboys defender landed on his ankle in the third quarter. Then Barkley planted his foot on a screen pass in the fourth quarter, immediately collapsed to the turf and left the game.
He claimed Thursday that the re-injury was “nothing that set [me] back.” But he’s been limited at practice all week, and it’s hard to imagine he will be able to get through Sunday’s game at Fedex Field at anything close to full strength.
The cruel reality, of course, is that the Giants (2-8) have no true plan to move the ball consistently outside of handing it to Barkley. But every carry and touch continues to put him in harm’s way, physically and financially.
He’ll come off the franchise tag at the end of this season and hear again in March about how he’s a 27-year-old running back with too much tread on his tires to command the contract he’s seeking.
“It’s really crazy when you break it down like that,” Barkley said Thursday. “Just the way the business is when you’re a premier back in this league, not to talk about myself.
“They feed you the ball because it helps you and gives you an opportunity to win games more times than not. When it comes to contract or a certain time, you’re a running back, you’re having so much miles on you. It’s a crazy thought process.
“I try my best not to think about that or I would go insane.”
The Giants will have the option to franchise-tag Barkley again, which would prevent him from hitting the open market for a second straight season. Barkley has said frequently that he wants to be a Giant for life, but he also has made multiple recent references to possible future negotiations with other teams.
Barkley signed the franchise-tag tender in July after contentious offseason negotiations with Giants general manager Joe Schoen. He got $10.091 million guaranteed, including $2 million as a signing bonus, but the team retained the ability to tag him again in March 2024, and the Giants added $909,000 in incentives that look laughable now.
All of that money was contingent upon the Giants making the playoffs this season.