At the recent New York Giants bye week, one of the main talking points was the contract extension that star running back Saquon Barkley was in line for.
On the year, the 25-year-old has 224 carries, 992 rushing yards (4.4 yards per carry), and seven touchdowns. He has been effective in 2022 for the Giants in the passing game as a receiver. Barkley has 35 catches for 223 yards, putting his all-purpose amount at 1,215.
For so much of this season, Barkley has been the lone catalyst of the skill position groups for the Giants. It has made the talk of a second contract with the team intensify as this year has progressed.
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Recent struggles of Saquon Barkley presenting Giants with challenge:
Post-bye, Barkley did have a 35 rushing attempt, 152-yard day single-handedly leading the Giants to their seventh win of the year. The last two weeks, however, have been a different story.
In the Giants’ first recent frustrating loss to the Detroit Lions, Barkley had 15 rushes go for 22 yards and two receptions for 13 yards. Yesterday, in a big divisional matchup with the Dallas Cowboys, Barkley only got 11 carries, going for 39 yards (3.5 yards per carry) and four catches for 13 yards.
After such current contract talks, from the Giants’ standpoint, it is a rather good thing that nothing came to fruition. The latest production from Barkley has not been up to par with his play over the Giants’ first nine games.
Knowing the way paying the running back position works, especially with players even as young as 26 years old, one would have to believe that Barkley’s recent play has led to some questions.
On the flip side, there are still six football games left for this team, four against NFC East teams, in which Barkley can still help himself. At the moment, though, it certainly seems as if his contract value is going down.