Saquon Barkley said Wednesday he still wants to be a Giant for life, but even he knows that might not be possible as he heads into what might be his final game with the team that drafted him second overall in 2018.
“[Does] a fresh start cross my mind? I guess anybody, when you look at how the season went, I feel like everybody would want a fresh start somewhere else, just a clean slate,” Barkley said. “But that’s how I look at it. If I did hit the open market, hey, that’s God’s plan to go to another team and continue to build a legacy for myself.”
Asked if he still wants to be a Giant next year after the team gave him the franchise tag last offseason and has, according to Barkley, made no effort to hand him an extension since the season began, the running back was less certain than a year ago.
“Um, yeah,” Barkley said. “I’ve mentioned before, I want to be a Giant for life. That was a goal of mine when I got drafted. I wanted to leave a legacy here. It’s out of my control. I have no say. It’s up to those guys upstairs, Joe [Schoen, GM] and those guys. They’ve got to do what’s best for the team, whatever they feel like is best for the team. They’ll make a decision. Me saying, ‘I want to be a Giant for life’ like I did last year, it doesn’t help or it doesn’t hurt, so I’ll leave it to those guys.”
Barkley wanted a long-term deal last season, but got the $10.1 million franchise tag instead and would be in line for $12.1 million next year if the Giants franchised him again, although it seems unlikely they would want to spend that much on a back who turns 27 next month.
Barkley, who was awarded the George Young/Ernie Accorsi Good Guy Award by the team’s beat writers on Wednesday, is aware of where he is in his career in relation to other running backs. And he knows that’s not working in his favor, especially given his injury history.
“I feel like there’s still a lot left in me,” Barkley said before adding he’s aware he’s closer to the end of his career than the beginning. “Not that there’s a whole bunch left in me. I try to look at backs before me.”
Historically, the production for running backs has slipped dramatically around Barkley’s age. He’s currently 14th in the NFL with 916 yards rushing.
Asked if he would be open to signing a new deal with the Giants before hitting free agency, Barkley said, “I’m still as open as I was before. I just want something that’s fair [and] that makes sense. I think I was open and honest about that last year. I still stick by that. But I get it. It’s a business. Hopefully, if it’s not here, it’s some other place.”
He’s hoping whatever the decision is, it doesn’t drag on, as it did with the Giants last season.
“We have exit meetings and I’ll definitely have that conversation with them,” Barkley said. “I handled the situation as best as I could. Obviously, as a team year, even as an individual, with the ankle injury, it didn’t go the way I wanted it to. I feel like to do the right thing, shoot me straight, let me know what it’s gonna be and let me make my decision.”
If Sunday is Barkley’s final game as a Giant, he said there would be some regret about how his tenure went.
“I didn’t think in six years, I’d only be to the playoffs one time or would have torn my ACL my third year,” Barkley said. “I went through a lot of adversity. I feel like I never folded. Every time I got knocked down, I got back up and kept fighting and that’s gonna continue to be my mindset.”
He continues to believe better days are ahead for the franchise.
“The time is coming, I don’t know when it’s gonna be,” Barkley said. “I don’t know if I’m gonna be here when it happens. I would love to be here for that, but if I’m not, I have nothing but the utmost respect for [the organization], top down.”
