Giants Rumors: Saquon Barkley Won't Sign Franchise Tag, Will Miss Offseason Program

New York Giants star running back Saquon Barkley has not been shy about his desire for a new contract, and he reportedly sent a message to the franchise that he is not satisfied with his situation.

According to Kim Jones of Newsday, Barkley does not intend to sign the franchise tag and will thus be ineligible for the Giants' offseason program that is set to begin on Monday.

Despite Barkley's impending absence from the offseason program, Ralph Vacchiano of Fox Sports reported "no camp holdout is expected — at least not yet."

The franchise tag for running backs is worth $10.1 million for the 2023 season. Barkley told reporters in January that he's not looking to break the bank with a new deal, saying, "I'm not really too concerned with resetting the [running back] market. I'm realistic."

However, it's clear that the speedster wants to be paid what he feels he's worth. Ian O'Connor of the New York Post reported in January that he "he turned down a bye-week offer from the Giants believed to be in the $12 million-$12.5 million range for three or four years."

While playing on the fifth-year option on his rookie deal in 2022, Barkley put forth a stellar season in which he ranked fourth in the NFL with 1,312 rushing yards and ninth with 10 rushing touchdowns. It was a strong bounce-back campaign after he had been mired by leg injuries in each of the previous two seasons that limited him to 627 rushing yards combined in 2020 and 2021.

Instead of extending Barkley earlier this offseason, the Giants re-signed quarterback Daniel Jones to a four-year, $160 million contract extension to stop him from hitting the open market as a free agent. The franchise tag would keep Barkley under contract for 2023, but it looks like there's still a ways to go for the team to keep their lead back happy going forward.