No Saquon Barkley, no Dexter Lawrence, no worries.
The Giants — minus their best playmaker on each side of the ball — reconvened at team headquarters Monday for the start of the voluntary offseason training program.
If it was unsettling to sit through meetings without two co-captains engaged in contract disputes, no one publicly broke from the unified message.
“We’ve had a great turnout,” head coach Brian Daboll said. “I think the guys that are here are excited to be back. We got off to a good start. I’ve talked to both Saquon and Dex, and I’ll leave those conversations, as I always do, private.”
Barkley, who is unhappy to be stuck under the franchise tag that kept him from free agency at the bargain price of $10.1 million, is not permitted to participate until he is signed — not expected anytime soon.
Lawrence is seeking an extension to replace the $12.4 million that he is due on the final year of his current contract.
“We’ve got great guys in the locker room and mature guys who understand the business side of playing in the NFL,” quarterback Daniel Jones said. “I don’t think that’s a concern within our team. Those two guys are excellent teammates, stand-up guys that everyone has a ton of respect for. In terms of it all dividing the locker room and making anyone feel differently, I think that’s out of the question.”
Staying away from the team is a method to create leverage.
Absences become more noteworthy on May 22 — when coaches and players are on the practice field together for the first time — and on June 13 when three-day mandatory minicamp begins.
Want to catch a game? The Giants schedule with links to buy tickets can be found here.
“It’s April 17,” Daboll said. “We have a long way until we get going.”
Jones might have been in a similar spot to Barkley if he had been franchise-tagged instead of agreeing to a last-minute four-year, $160 million extension on March 7.
Safety Xavier McKinney is in a similar spot to Lawrence, as he has one year remaining on his rookie contract.
“They are dealing with their own things. That’s for them to work out,” McKinney said. “But we know what type of guys that they are and what type of players that they are, and we all love them. We all kind of know what it is.”
McKinney said he did not consider skipping report day.
The Giants honored McKinney’s contract last season when he was injured and missed seven games due to three broken fingers suffered in an impermissible ATV accident.
“I’m focused on what I’m doing right now,” McKinney said. “I just like to stay in the present. My mindset right now is just to get better personally, but also help my team, whichever way I can. That’s pretty much how I’ve always been, and that’s how I continue to be regardless of anything else that’s happened on the outside.”
Daboll addressed the absences of Barkley and Lawrence during a brief team meeting as to not ignore the elephant in the room.
The parameters for an extension with Lawrence are clear after an offseason in which three comparable defensive tackles signed four-year deals worth between $21 million and $23.5 million per year.
It’s much murkier with Barkley, who turned down a three-year extension worth about $13 million per year before the running-back market tanked in free agency and the Giants pulled their offer.
“Much respect for Saquon,” Daboll said, “and those things, in some form, at some time, will find itself working out.”
It sounds overly optimistic given the quiet expected in negotiations until after the upcoming draft, according to a source, but Barkley recently joined teammates in Arizona for Jones-organized throwing sessions.
The noncontroversial Jones didn’t break the mold to urge the Giants to get a deal done or campaign for how Barkley makes his job easier.
“I’m hoping for the best for him … and I’ll support him through it all,” Jones said. “I think he’s got a good mindset. He’s taking care of his business and making sure he’s in shape, improving and working out hard. I think he’s doing all the right things, as you’d expect him to do.”