Former Penn State and current Giants RB Saquon Barkley won’t be at the team’s mandatory minicamp this week, he confirmed after his youth football camp in Jersey City Sunday.
Giants’ franchise RB Saquon Barkley confirmed after the Saquon Barkley Youth Football Camp in Jersey City, NJ today that he will not be at his team’s mandatory minicamp this week. Barkley still has not signed his franchise tender.
His words: pic.twitter.com/O8nFQujZG0
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 12, 2023
Barkley has yet to sign his franchise tender with the Giants, and said that he’s “not looking to set any contract records.”
He was sat to become a free agent in March, but the Giants placed a non-exclusive franchise tag on him for roughly $10 million this season.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.“I’m not demanding to be the highest-paid player at my position,” Barkley said. “I understand the market. My goal is just to be compensated respectfully based on my contributions to the team on the field and in the locker room. I’ve been in talks with the Giants throughout the offseason.”
After missing almost all of the 2020 season due to injury and struggling the next season, Barkley bounced back on a big way in 2022. He ended the season with 1,312 rushing yards, good for fourth in the NFL, and 10 touchdowns, good for ninth, averaging 4.4 yards per carry. Barkley’s contributions were a big reason the Giants made the playoffs for the first time since 2016, where the team upset Minnesota on the road before falling to Philadelphia in the divisional round.
Barkley is one of the best and most popular players in Penn State history. Arriving in Happy Valley early in the James Franklin-era, Barkley became a star almost right away. He eclipsed 1,000 yards as a freshman, helped Penn State to its most recent Big Ten championship as a sophomore and averaged nearly six yards per carry as a junior, becoming the second overall pick in the 2018 Draft after the Giants took him. Saquon Barkley is second only to Evan Royster on the school’s all-time rushing list and first all-time with 43 touchdowns.
