Giants franchise tag Saquon Barkley after signing Daniel Jones to long-term deal

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The New York Giants have reportedly franchise-tagged running back Saquon Barkley after beating the clock and signing quarterback Daniel Jones to a four-year deal. 

This has always been the ideal plan for the Giants, who were hoping to lock in Jones long-term, and franchise tag Barkley so they can continue negotiating on a possible extension for him as well. 

Jones’ deal is reportedly worth $160 million over four years with $35 million in "upside," per NFL Network. That comes out to $40 million per season.

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New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley, left, and quarterback Daniel Jones during the NFC Divisional playoff game against the Eagles on Jan. 21, 2023, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. (Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Barkley congratulated Jones on his deal.

Being that Barkley’s tag is non-exclusive, other teams wishing to offer him a contract can do so. New York holds the right to match that offer sheet, or receive two first-round picks in return. 

With Jones locked in, Giants GM Joe Schoen can shift focus to Barkley’s potential long-term pact. Fox Sports' Ralph Vacchiano reported in January that the team offered $12 million per season to Barkley. 

But Schoen ended up saying "we weren’t really close."

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"Listen, Saquon's done everything we've asked him to do, and he's a good football player," Schoen added. "The positional value… we'll get into how we want to build this team and allocate our resources. That's what it comes down to."

Vacchiano added that Barkley was looking for a deal like San Francisco 49ers’ star running back Christian McCaffrey, who is making $16 million per season. 

Barkley has injury history, with his torn ACL in 2020 ending his season prematurely at the top of the list, but proved himself this season after rushing for 1,312 yards on 295 attempts (4.4 yards per carry) with 10 touchdowns. He also caught 57 of his 76 targets for 338 yards. 

New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley is introduced before the Indianapolis Colts game on Jan. 1, 2023, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Barkley’s ability to make defenders miss was on full display, and head coach Brian Daboll trusted the offense to continuously run through him each week. The results? The first playoff appearance since 2016. 

Of course, that’s not entirely because of Barkley, but his tandem with Jones created an offense that ate clock and put points on the board. A revitalized defense under defensive coordinator Wink Martindale factored into the Giants’ success as well. 

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Barkley has also developed into a veteran leader for the Giants, something they envisioned in 2018 when he was drafted No. 2 overall out of Penn State. While there’s a new regime since that Draft, Barkley has assumed the role and players love what he does on and off the field. 

Prior to the Giants’ deal for Jones, they had the third-most cap space in the NFL at $46 million, per OverTheCap.com, on Tuesday. 

New York Giants' Saquon Barkley looks to get past Minnesota Vikings' Camryn Bynum during the wild-card game on Jan. 15, 2023, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

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The Giants will have until July 17 to sign Barkley long-term before the $10.1 million salary locks in for the 2023 campaign.