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Things don't always go as planned, especially in the NFL. It's a reality Saquon Barkley can readily confirm, as he works to return to the field from a torn ACL suffered in Week 2. He'd play in just two games this season and finish with only 34 rushing yards with no touchdowns, and it marked the second consecutive season in which he's missed multiple games due to injury. In 2019, Barkley was sidelined for three games with a high ankle sprain, but did return to log his second 1,000-yard rushing season in his first two in the NFL -- his total yards from scrimmage in those two seasons ascending to a stellar mark of 3,469. 

It's the latter that likely guarantees the New York Giants will exercise the fifth-year option on the former second-overall pick, but the more prevailing question surrounds what will happen after 2022. There can be no debate on the talent of Barkley, a Pro Bowler and former Rookie of the Year who can be a terror for opposing defenses if he gets going. It's also true that his recent injury gives way to questions about his durability going forward, but owner John Mara doesn't seem concerned with the latter.

"He's such an important part of this team," Mara told media of Barkley's value to the Giants, via Pro Football Talk. "Not only for what he does on the field, but the leadership and all of the intangibles he brings to us off the field. That [torn ACL] was really a gut-punch. 

Mara is unsure of when Barkley will be back, however, but sounds committed to keeping him around for the long haul.

"Listen, I'm still happy that we have him," he said of the franchise halfback. "I think knowing him, he's going to come back stronger than ever and be a big part of this team next year. In terms of what the time table is, it's hard to predict that right now. I know our medical people are very pleased with the progress he's made. 

"I certainly expect him to be a Giant for a very long time."

The Giants are a combined 7-9 without Barkley in uniform. 

Absent the exercising of a fifth-year option, Barkley will hit unrestricted free agency in 2023. The Giants can push that possibility to 2024 by pulling that trigger, and they also have the franchise tag in their toolbox to keep him right where he is for an added year if it takes a while to work out a contract -- both the fifth-year option and a franchise tag keeping Barkley with Big Blue through the 2023 season. Of course, there's a matter of how Barkley would handle the contract negotiations, because great relationships between players and owners -- such as what Barkley has with Mara -- rarely halts the business side of the equation.

The torn ACL creates an odd dynamic in which Barkley could use it to note why he wants security now rather than later, but the Giants could rebut such a stance by pointing out the injury is precisely why they need more time to evaluate his health before forking over a monstrous sum of money.

So, all told, there's no guarantee Barkley would be willing to play on a franchise tag, or even his fifth-year option, instead potentially preferring a long-term deal as soon as it is palatable. This is the exact scenario that played out between Ezekiel Elliott and the Dallas Cowboys, albeit with Elliott lacking the durability concerns attached to Barkley. Elliott's holdout in 2019 eventually led to him becoming the highest-paid running back in the NFL, a mark that's since been blown past by Christian McCaffrey in Carolina. And there are other instances of a franchise halfback hitting pause (or being willing to) to nudge ownership into a new deal -- more recently that of Alvin Kamara in New Orleans and Dalvin Cook in Minnesota.

Time will tell if Barkley plays the holdout card, but his injury issues siphon some of his leverage in that regard, but Mara and the Giants admittedly understand what he means to the offense and the progression of Daniel Jones, along with indirect value like merchandise sales. Barkley is the face of the franchise, and Mara will eventually have to pay him like it, or a "long time" might not be as lengthy as the owner and recently-assured general manager Dave Gettleman would like.