Saquon Barkley is heading into another free agency season and things are starting to make sense to him. Now in his 6th-year in the NFL, Barkley understands more about how the game works off the field.
“Loyalty means nothing,” he said. “Loyalty, that don’t mean nothing. No matter how loyal, no matter how committed you are, it’s a business at the end of the day. That is something that I have learned.”
SAQUON BARKLEY HAS HAD HIS SHARE OF INJURIES
In his 5+ seasons, Saquon Barkley has amassed 4,932 yards at 4.4 yards per carry, and scored 32 rushing touchdowns and a further 2,003 yards and 10 touchdowns through the air.
Moving towards the offseason, Saquon Barkley knows the Giants could franchise tag him, or let him test the market. But the heavy workload he is seeing with the absence of Daniel Jones is both a blessing and a potential curse.
“When you’re a premier back in this league — not to talk about myself — they feed you the ball because it helps you and gives you an opportunity to win games more times than not. And then when it comes to contract or a certain time and you’re a running back, you having so much miles on you, it’s a crazy concept.
“I try my best not to think about that or I would go insane. I just try to keep focus on the love of the game, take care of my body and whenever the opportunity comes to talk contract again — whether it’s with the Giants or another team — hopefully I’m able to pull the film or pull up numbers to be able to get a contract that is the best for me and my family.”
“For me, the way I try to handle that, I try not to focus on that. I try my best not to think about it,” he said. “I feel every week I have to answer a question about it. I get it, you guys are doing your job. That is the only time it really crosses my mind, to be completely honest. Because if not, I would go insane. I would lose my mind if I was able to focus on that. I try to keep the main thing the main thing. I continue to enjoy the process, take it one day at a time.”
It’s refreshing to hear an NFL player being as honest about his situation as Saquon Barkley was, and also as professional. At the end of the day the only thing he can do is produce on the field and then it’s up to head coach Brian Daboll and second-year general manager Joe Schoen to decide whether they will pay him or set him free.
Brian Daboll summed up Saquon Barkley’s position succinctly, “We’re going to do whatever we can do to try to win the game,” Daboll said
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