Saquon Barkley is a running back who plays for the National Football League (NFL) team, the New York Giants. He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions (Pennsylvania State University). Barkley was selected by the New York Giants in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft as the 2nd overall pick.
His time at Penn State was nothing short of exceptional, as he shattered several school records for fun. Barkley holds the record for most receiving yards by a running back (1,157), most career rushing touchdowns (43), most all-purpose career yards (5,538), and more. He was the consensus all-American in 2017 and named the first-team all-American as well.
He has continued this form in the NFL as well, making two Pro Bowl appearances already in 2018 and 2022, respectively. The youngster announced himself on the big stage by winning the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Going into the 2019 season, Saquon Barkley was ranked 16th on the list of the top 100 NFL players.
Given his exploits, it was natural that a big contract would be given to him. As per Spotrac, Barkley signed a 4-year rookie contract with the New York Giants worth a mammoth $31,194,751. This included a signing bonus worth $20,767,092 and an average annual salary of $7,798,688.
Saquon Barkley signed a one year contract with the New York Giants instead of getting the franchise tag
Before the start of the season, there was a lot of deliberation on whether Saquon Barkley would be signed under a franchise tag or not. However, in the end, both parties decided to go for a short-term solution. Barkley signed a 1-year contract with the Giants, which is worth $10,091,000. This includes a base salary of $8,091,000 as well as a signing bonus of $2,000,000.
Saquon Barkley had expressed discontent before as well and wanted a way out of the New York Giants. In fact, the two parties had not come to a mutual consensus even after the deadline on July 17th. The Giants could not make Barkley agree to a long-term extension, and this is the only option to make him happy. At the end of the season, they can sign him again under the franchise tag or let him go for free agency.
“Minor setback for a major comeback. He’s a heck of a player, has a heck of work ethic…he’s going to do all the right things to put himself in a position to come back and be even better.”
– Saquon Barkley on Daniel Jones pic.twitter.com/QGlUD5xrAz
— Giants Videos (@SNYGiants) November 9, 2023
After signing the contract, Saquon Barkley mentioned he was focused on the season ahead and not on negotiations anymore. He said he had been public about his expectations. But he felt that he was being too concerned about the future and wanted to return his focus to the game.
“My focus is really on just this season; take it one day at a time,” Barkley said. “I was asked that before, and I said, like I said before, everyone knows how I feel. I was public about it before, but I think I would be doing a disservice to myself to get too caught up in my future and worrying about what’s going to happen and being a giant for life.”
Currently, the highest-paid running back in the NFL is Bijan Robinson of the Atlanta Falcons, who earns nearly $13.72 million per year. Barkley is ninth on the list currently. The youngster still has a long way to go to cover up the approximately $4 million gap that exists.