A Giants legend issued a loaded warning to Saquon Barkley.
Barkley and Big Blue were unable to come to terms on a multi-year contract, which means Barkley’s options now are to play this season for about $10.1 million on the franchise tag, or sit out and lose the prorated amount for each game.
Speaking on his podcast “Bleav in Giants” with cohost Bob Papa, former Giants great Carl Banks advised Barkley to swallow his pride and play out the tag.
“I am saying to you… that you have more value than you have leverage,” Banks said.
“The only way that your value and your brand value stays high is to do the game that you love, that you’re great at. The system is what has suppressed running back salaries. He’s not alone … sitting out doesn’t send a message. It won’t change the system.
“I am saying this to you: Don’t be a principled fool. And I say that because, you could sit at home and nobody is paying the price. The games are going to start on time. Training camp won’t stop because you’re not there… Come in with your integrity intact and be enthusiastic. Be angry — you should be angry.”
Barkley has mulled the idea of sitting out games to stick it to the Giants over the failed contract negotiations.
Running backs across the league have taken notice of the situations that Barkley and Raiders star Josh Jacobs are in, as the position has become heavily devalued in terms of compensation in the past decade.
Many of the league’s top running backs met via Zoom over the weekend to discuss their depressed market.
Browns running back Nick Chubb spoke to reporters over the weekend about the inherent unfairness of high production leading organizations to believe the future value from his cohorts is depreciated.
“Right now, it’s just talking, there’s really nothing we can do,” Chubb said of the meeting.
“We’re kind of handcuffed with the situation, but what I took from it — [49ers’ Christian] McCaffrey, Derrick Henry and Saquon all had a lot of good points. The biggest thing is that we’re the only position where our production hurts us the most.
“If we go out there and run 2,000 yards with so many carries, the next year they’re going to say you’re probably worn down. That’s the biggest thing that I took from it. It’s tough. It hurts us just to go out there and do well. It hurts us at the end of the day.”