Giants to “Reconvene” with Saquon Barkley, D’Andre Swift Trade: “Win-Win for All,” and Other NFL Bullets
Good morning, and happy Sunday! I’m still a bit tired from the trip to Kansas City for the NFL Draft. Still, we’ve got a very early Sunday edition of Bullets today because my father-in-law is retiring after 30 years as a police officer in the western suburbs of Chicago. So I’ll be attending his send-off ceremony this morning. I don’t have much for you today, but I will have plenty of draft recap and thoughts this week. First, however, we’ll get things going today with some Saquon Barkley news out of New York.
- New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley still hasn’t reported to the Giants’ offseason program. The star running back was designated the Giants’ franchise player almost two months ago. However, Barkley and the Giants still need to work out a new long-term contract.
- ESPN’s Jordan Raanan reported last night that Giants GM Joe Schoen plans to “reconvene” with Barkley this week with the NFL Draft in the rearview mirror today.
“Yeah, we’ll talk this coming week now that the draft is over, kind of reconvene, see if [a new offer] makes sense or not,” Schoen said. “Have dialogue now that the draft is over.”
- According to Raanan, the Giants offered Barkley a deal that was worth up to $14 million per season. But “the structure and guaranteed money were not enough to get a deal done.”
- Barkley finished fourth in the NFL with 1,312 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. Barkley also tied for the team lead with 57 catches in 2022. Barley is entering his sixth season in the NFL and turned 26 this year.
- For all the slack that the Detroit Lions draft class has received this weekend, Next Generation Stats likes what they’ve done:
- With rookie Jahmyr Gibbs and former Bears running back David Montgomery in tow, Detroit traded D’Andre Swift to the Eagles for a 2025 fourth-round pick and a seventh-round pick in yesterday’s final round of the draft. Lions GM Brad Holmes called the trade a good move for all parties involved:
“I always say, and I think I told you guys around the [T.J.] Hocknsen trade, is it’s my job to keep laser focus on the present but probably, more importantly, keep laser focus on the future,” Holmes said in his press conference. “And that’s what went into a lot of the decision with having to make the trade with D’Andre Swift to Philly. He was [going into the] last year of his contract and if I go back to last year, I felt really good about us being able to bring back Jamaal Williams. I felt confident as the season ended. I felt good about our conversations with his camp. And it didn’t happen. so, you have to just be prepared for all those things.
“We don’t draft scared. We don’t play scared. The thing with Jahmyr Gibbs is, that’s the guy that we loved. But, again, having to keep that laser focus for the future, all these things become a part of it. But also, we want to do the right thing for the player. So, that’s kind of how we do it.
“I think at the end of the day, him being able to go back to his hometown on a really, really good team that was just in the Super Bowl, I think it was a win-win for all parties involved.”
- I’ll have some more thoughts on the draft this week, but Jack Soble from the Columbia Missourian wrote up a nice story on the local reactions to the draft being in Kansas City this weekend:
- This is a pretty cool story!
- ICYMI: Luis has every Bears draft pick here for you:
- And more on my favorite Bears draft pick of the weekend:
