The Giants placed their franchise tag on Barkley on Tuesday, ESPN.com reports.
Meanwhile, the Giants agreed to a four-year contract with Daniel Jones, freeing the tag up for Barkley. Under the terms of his non-exclusive franchise tender, the star running back is in line to make $10.09 million in 2023. This past season, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft logged 295 carries for 1,312 yards and 10 TDs, to go along with 57 catches for 338 yards in 16 games with New York.
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Giants' Saquon Barkley: Limited opportunity Saturday night
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Barkley rushed nine times for 61 yards and brought in two of three targets for 21 yards in the Giants' 38-7 divisional-round loss to the Eagles on Saturday night.
Barkley's otherwise quiet night was highlighted by a 39-yard scamper on the Giants' only scoring drive, and his overall touches were limited by game script. The talented back finished a resurgent regular season with 1,312 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on 295 carries while also bringing in 57 of 76 targets for 338 yards, and he didn't lose a fumble across 16 games. However, he logged just nine carries apiece in the Giants' two postseason contests, although he did score twice in the wild-card win over the Vikings. Barkley is slated to become an unrestricted free agent at the start of the new league year, but given this season's results, there should certainly be interest in keeping him in the Big Apple.
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Giants' Saquon Barkley: Carries Giants to victory
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Barkley carried the ball nine times for 53 yards and two touchdowns while catching five of six targets for 56 yards in Sunday's 31-24 wild-card win over the Vikings.
While Daniel Jones wound up leading the Giants in both carries and rushing yards, Barkley made his touches on the ground count, scoring his team's first points on a 28-yard dash in the first quarter and then plunging into the end zone from two yards out in the fourth for what proved to be the winning touchdown. The star running back will now set his sights on the Eagles in the divisional round, a defense that held Barkley to only 48 scrimmage yards in their only meeting during the regular season, as Barkley was rested for the second, meaningless contest.
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Giants' Saquon Barkley: Not suiting up for Week 18
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Barkley (coach's decision) is inactive for Sunday's game against the Eagles, Dan Salomone of the Giants' official site reports.
The Giants are locked in as the No. 6 seed for the NFC playoff regardless of the outcome of their game with the Eagles as well as the rest of this weekend's action, so head coach Brian Daboll has chosen to err on the side of caution by holding out his franchise running back with little at stake in the regular-season finale. Matt Breida and Gary Brightwell are the Giants' lone active running backs and will likely split the snaps to some extent.
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Giants' Saquon Barkley: RBs to Sit
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I don't expect Barkley to play much, if at all, in Week 18 at the Eagles. The Giants have nothing to play for with the No. 6 seed locked up in the NFC, and risking Barkley with an injury in a game right before the playoffs makes little sense. The Giants should lean on Matt Breida and Gary Brightwell in this matchup, with Breida getting a slight nod as a flex option in most leagues, and keep Barkley on the bench to make sure he's fresh for the postseason.
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Giants' Saquon Barkley: Wants to play Week 18
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Barkley said he plans to play in Sunday's game against the Eagles, unless head coach Brian Daboll prevents him from doing so, Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News reports.
The catch is that Daboll may do just that, as the Giants are locked into the No. 6 seed and a likely wild-card matchup with Minnesota or San Francisco, depending on how those two teams fare in Week 18. There's no guarantee of Barkley playing more than a few snaps even if he gets the start this Sunday.
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Giants' Saquon Barkley: Takes back seat in Week 17 win
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Barkley rushed 12 times for 58 yards and caught two of four targets for negative-5 yards in the Giants' Week 17 win over Indianapolis.
Barkley led New York in carries, but he was outgained on the ground by quarterback Daniel Jones (11 carries for 91 yards and two touchdowns) and No. 2 running back Matt Breida (nine carries for 59 yards). Most of Breida's production came in garbage time during the fourth quarter as Barkley logged only one carry during the period. The 53 total yards were Barkley's fewest since he totaled 48 yards in a limited role against Philadelphia in Week 14, but the context was entirely different against Indianapolis as New York notched a blowout win to gain a playoff spot for the first time since 2016. On another note, Barkley's modest production pushed him to 1,312 rushing yards on the campaign, surpassing his previous career high of 1,307 yards set during his rookie campaign. The Penn State's product's bounce-back year and the Giants' surprising success this season has New York set on committing to the Pro Bowl back beyond this campaign, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, and Barkley may get a chance to get some rest ahead of the postseason with the Giants having nothing to gain Week 18 against the Eagles.
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Giants' Saquon Barkley: Carries offense in loss
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Barkley carries the ball 14 times for 84 yards and a touchdown and caught eight of 10 targets for 49 yards in Saturday's 27-24 loss to the Vikings.
The running back did everything he could to keep the Giants in the game, setting new season highs in catches and targets and tying things up at 24-24 with a 27-year TD run on fourth-and-2 with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter, only for Greg Joseph to boot a 61-yard game-winning field goal as time expired. Barkley has topped 100 scrimmage yards in back-to-back games, a figure he's reached eight times in 15 contests, and he figures to be the focal point of the New York offense again in Week 17 against the Colts.
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Giants' Saquon Barkley: Healthy for Week 15
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Barkley was a full practice participant Wednesday and isn't listed on the Giants' Week 15 injury report, Art Stapleton of The Bergen Record reports.
Barkley played only 20 snaps in Sunday's 48-22 loss to the Eagles, with a neck injury and the blowout nature of the game both being factors in his unusually limited role (11 touches for 48 yards on a 31 percent snap share). Prior to that, he handled at least 42 snaps and 15 touches in each of the Giants' other 12 games. There's a good chance Barkley gets back to that kind of workload in a crucial game for two wild-card hopefuls this Sunday at Washington.
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Giants' Saquon Barkley: Limited in Week 14 loss
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Barkley rushed nine times for 28 yards and brought in both targets for 20 yards in the Giants' 48-22 loss to the Eagles on Sunday.
Barkley came into the pregame warmups with his status up in the air due to a neck injury, and he ultimately played just 20 snaps, per Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com. However, Raanan notes head coach Brian Daboll said the star running back was not on any kind of pre-determined snap limit, and the fact Barkley didn't play from late in the third quarter onward was a byproduct of the lopsided score. Barkley will have an opportunity to be in better overall shape going into a critical Week 15 Sunday night battle against the Commanders.
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Giants' Saquon Barkley: Suiting up Sunday
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Barkley (neck) is listed as active Sunday against the Eagles.
Barkley's status for Week 14 action was among the biggest question marks after his practice reps were capped Thursday and Friday due to a neck injury. Considered a game-time decision for this contest, his availability seemingly was up in the air until coach Brian Daboll spoke to the media Sunday morning. Per Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, Daboll said Barkley will "be a go. ... We'll keep an eye on him, see how he's doing, but he came in early, got treatment (on his neck)." While he may yield reps out of the Giants backfield to backups Matt Breida and Gary Brightwell, Barkley is in line to be a part of New York's offensive game plan.
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Giants' Saquon Barkley: Slated to play Sunday
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Barkley (neck) is in line to play Sunday against the Eagles, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network and Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com report.
Barkley, who logged limited practices Thursday and Friday, had been viewed as a game-time decision for the contest, but he's slated give it a go Sunday, per coach Brian Daboll. Official confirmation of Barkley's Week 14 status will arrive upon the release of the Giants' inactives ahead of Sunday's 1:00 ET kickoff.
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Giants' Saquon Barkley: Week 14 status hinges on workout
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Barkley (neck), who is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Eagles, is considered a true game-time call, and the Giants are expected to wait up until the release of their inactive list 90 minutes ahead of the 1 p.m. ET kickoff before reaching a decision on his status, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports.
Barkley took a designation into the weekend after the neck issue resulted in his practice reps being capped Thursday and Friday. Though Ian Rapoport of NFL Network noted that Barkley took part in the Giants' walk-through Saturday, the running back will be put through a warmup Sunday morning before the team has a better feel for his Week 14 status. Notably, the Giants didn't elevate another running back from the practice squad Saturday, so the team would be left with Matt Breida and Gary Brightwell as its options out of the backfield if Barkley is inactive or available only in an emergency.
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Giants' Saquon Barkley: Considered '50-50' for Week 14
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The Giants deem Barkley (neck) to be "50-50" to play Sunday against the Eagles, with his availability coming down to pregame warmups, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
Barkley made a mid-week appearance on the Giants' injury report due to a neck issue, which limited his practice reps Thursday and Friday. The team tabbed him with a questionable designation for Week 14, but Art Stapleton of The Bergen Record reported earlier Saturday that the Giants won't risk Barkley potentially aggravating of the injury if he's not ready to suit up. As such, Barkley is a true game-time decision in advance of Sunday's game, with his status to be revealed about 90 minutes before a 1 p.m. ET kickoff. Matt Breida and Gary Brightwell are the next running backs up for New York in the event Barkley ends up sidelined.
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Giants' Saquon Barkley: True game-time decision
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Barkley (neck) is expected to be a true game-time decision Sunday and his status will likely depend on how he feels following a pre-game workout, Art Stapleton of The Bergen Record reports.
The Giants did not elevate a running back from the practice squad Saturday, a sign typically across the NFL that the positional depth chart is essentially solidified for the upcoming matchup. Various reports from Giants beat writers confirmed that may not be the case in this particular instance, as Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post suggested it's entirely possible the star running back may still be unavailable even with just Matt Breida and Gary Brightwell set to back up Barkley. Expect more clarity regarding the situation to occur well before the 1:00 p.m. ET kickoff.
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Giants' Saquon Barkley: Draws questionable tag for Week 14
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Barkley (neck) is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Eagles, Dan Salomone of the Giants' official site reports.
Barkley will carry a designation into the weekend after the neck issue rendered him a limited participant in practices Thursday or Friday. Though head coach Brian Daboll wasn't willing to guarantee Barkley's availability for the Week 14 game when he addressed the matter Friday, both Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News and Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com expect the running back to play through the injury after he didn't appear to be working out with any discomfort in the portion of practice that was open to the media. If Barkley's condition takes a turn for the worse and the Giants decide to hold him out or scale back his workload Sunday, Matt Breida would likely be the next man up for work out of the team's backfield.
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Giants' Saquon Barkley: Tending to neck issue
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Barkley was limited at Thursday's practice due to a neck injury, Dan Salomone of the Giants' official site reports.
Barkley wasn't listed on the Giants' injury report Wednesday, so his appearance one day later was unexpected. He was able to fit in some drills in spite of the health concern and has one more session to put himself in a position to avoid a designation ahead of Sunday's game against the Eagles. If Barkley is at all limited this weekend, Matt Breida and Gary Brightwell could take on larger roles out of New York's backfield.
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Giants' Saquon Barkley: Garners 81 total yards in tie
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Barkley rushed 18 times for 63 yards and a touchdown and secured all five targets for 18 yards in the Giants' 20-20 tie with the Commanders on Sunday.
Barkley had to work for every yard on the ground as his rushing line clearly indicates, but he was still able to put together a solid fantasy day thanks to volume and a 13-yard rushing touchdown just before the halfway point of the second quarter. Barkley has been under the 100-yard mark in three straight games, but he has multiple catches in three consecutive contests and rushing scores in four of his last five going into a Week 14 home showdown against the Eagles.
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Giants' Saquon Barkley: Salvages Thanksgiving with TD
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Barkley carried the ball 11 times for 39 yards and a touchdown and caught four of six targets for 13 yards in Thursday's 28-20 loss to the Cowboys.
His one-yard TD plunge midway through the second quarter gave the Giants a 10-7 lead, but the game was almost all Cowboys after halftime. The touchdown was Barkley's seventh rushing score of the year, his highest total since he racked up 11 as a rookie in 2018, and he's just eight rushing yards shy of his third career 1,000-yard campaign -- a mark he'll certainly reach in Week 13 against the Commanders.
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Giants' Saquon Barkley: Stymied in defeat
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Barkley rushed 15 times for 22 yards and caught two of five targets for 13 yards in Sunday's 31-18 loss to Detroit.
Barkley was bottled up from start to finish in this one, failing to rush for more than four yards on any of his 15 carries. The Lions had a defensive gameplan centered on stopping the star running back, forcing Daniel Jones and the Giants' depleted receiving corps to pick up the slack, which they failed to do as a collective unit. The 25-year-old Barkley has been such a fantasy monster this season that managers have to simply swallow this dud and move on. Barkley will have a prime opportunity to bounce back on Thanksgiving against a Cowboys defense that has had trouble stopping the run this season.
