Saquon Barkley is very close to sitting out games.

The running back situation in the NFL has been the talk of the town for the past few weeks, and Saquon Barkley is right at the centre of it all. The New York Giants’ superstar running back has yet to sign his long-term contract with the franchise, and he’s certainly preparing to hold out into the regular season if that’s what must happen.

Barkley was asked questions about the situation and his thoughts on a podcast. He said, “My leverage is I could say, f*ck you to the Giants, I could say f*ck you to my teammates. And be like, you want me to show you my worth? You want me to show you how valuable I am to the team? I won’t show up. I won’t play a down. And that’s a play I could use.” Giants’ fans worldwide fell over after hearing their star say this, but it’s certainly true. Barkley’s leverage is that he could simply not report to camp and show the Giants that their offense isn’t nearly as effective without him at the centre. Unfortunately, this tactic hasn’t worked well in the past. We all saw what happened to former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell. 

Barkley continued later, saying, “Anybody who knows me knows that’s not something I want to do. But it is something that crossed my mind, I never thought I would ever do that. But now I’m at a point where it’s like, Jesus, I might have to take it to this level. Am I prepared and willing to take it to the level. I don’t know. That’s something I gotta sit down. I gotta sit down and talk to my family. I gotta sit down and talk to my team. Gotta really strategise about this. Can’t just go off emotions. I can try to get as much money as I can, but what really matters is winning. I know if I’m able to bring a championship to New York, that’s going to go miles more ahead than this contract.” 

That was a fairly substantial quote taken but for good reason. While many of the initial headlines stated that he was saying “f*ck you” to the Giants franchise, they left out that he fully plans to strategise on his next moves first.

Barkley wants to talk to his teammates, family, friends, and management before going through with one of these moves. On top of that, he stated that winning matters most and will contribute far more to the city and team than the money he earns in this contract. These are little statements that most news outlets forget to mention in their headlines, and they could give you the wrong idea about where Barkley and the Giants are at. The bottom line is that he certainly has thought about holding out but wants to think it through. In the spur of the moment, he wanted to hold out straight away after the deadline passed. Since then, he’s been working on figuring it all out.

It’s quite unfortunate for Barkley now, though. He just ran for 1,312 yards, scored ten receiving touchdowns and 338 yards on 57 catches, and booked himself a trip to the Pro Bowl. Not to mention that he helped the Giants make the postseason and win a playoff game. In this offseason since then, fellow backfield mate Daniel Jones received a four-year, $160 million extension to remain the quarterback for New York. At this point, that contract is a slap in the face to Barkley and the rest of the players in his position. Jones was a capable quarterback, but he hasn’t proven worthy of that money and hasn’t thrived without Barkley to fall back on.