Giants Saquon Barkley Doesn’t Plan to Sign Franchise Tag Before Offseason Program

The New York Giants begin their offseason program on Monday, and they’ll do so without running back Saquon Barkley. Barkley hasn’t signed his franchise tag, and according to Kim Jones of Newsday, he doesn’t intend to.

The Giants placed the franchise tag on Saquon Barkley last month ahead of the deadline to do so after they reached an extension agreement with quarterback Daniel Jones. Players who have yet to sign the tag are ineligible to participate in their team’s offseason programs until they do so.

This doesn’t come as a surprise. The window between the franchise tag deadline and the deadline to sign the tender in July is designed to be an extended window to negotiate a new deal. The Giants have said that they intend to do as much, but nothing has materialized in the way of an extension to this point.

In November, Barkley turned down a $12 million yearly offer during the Giants’ bye week. Negotiations halted at that point. Christian McCaffrey’s $16 million annual average is at the top of the market. ESPN’s Jordan Raanan reported that “the belief is if the two sides meet at $14 million per year, a deal could get done.”

So, it seems that the Giants and Barkley are squabbling over roughly $2 million per season at this point.

Barkley isn’t alone in not signing the franchise tag yet. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, Raiders running back Josh Jacobs, and Jaguars tight end Evan Engram will also miss the start of their team’s offseason programs. Cowboys running back Tony Pollard has signed the franchise tag but is still recovering from a broken leg.

The deadline for signing the tag is July 17.