With first-team All-Pro Josh Jacobs of the Las Vegas Raiders or two-time Pro Bowler Saquon Barkley of the New York Giants not agreeing to long-term deals by Monday’s deadline for the franchise’s most notable players, there is a foreboding sense of familiarity. to the procedures.
Both running backs would clearly prefer long-term contracts to the one-year, $10.091 million paychecks that come with signing the label, although now neither can negotiate a long-term deal with their teams until after the season due to a no-day deadline. Monday. . And both, it seems, could have benefited from the other signing such a deal to reset the reverse market after it messed up this season.
Jacobs led the NFL in rushing yards (1,653) and yards from scrimmage (2,053) while scoring 12 touchdowns on the ground and catching 53 passes last season. Barkley rushed for a career-high 1,312 yards while recording 10 rushing flushes and also catching 57 passes for 338 yards. He finished third in Returning Player of the Year voting.
Both look primed for payday, but the slump position has been devalued in recent years. So where do they go, as well as invaders and giants, from here? You have questions, and we have answers, with New York Giants reporter Jordan Raanan, Las Vegas Raiders reporter Paul Gutierrez, and NFL chief correspondent Jeremy Fowler.
Why didn’t Barkley or Jacobs sign a long-term deal?
Bless me: It’s all about guaranteed money. The Giants offered Barkley several deals and packages that amounted to what would have been close to $14 million a season, including incentives and all kinds of different bonuses. But the sticking points were secured by money and structure.
The magic number was $22.2 million. That’s the franchise tag amount this year ($10.1 million) and the potential for it again next year at $12.1 million. It is generally what a player needs in order to consider a deal on the card. Giants don’t seem to get there.
“Read between the lines,” Barkley kept saying last month when explaining his thoughts on how the state of the contract should be presented publicly.
He was referring to the secured funds that prevented the two sides from agreeing to a long-term deal after nine months of haggling. – Jordan Raanan
Jacobs: A few cryptic tweets aside, Jacobs was relatively illiterate in the situation throughout the offseason — though he did give a peek at his feelings the day after the Raiders season, admitting he’d like to go back to Las Vegas albeit for a longer period — bargain with the security and respect that availability.
“To me, that should make sense,” he said at the time. As in dollars and cents, right? “But obviously that’s where I want to be.” In June, Jacobs took to Twitter and outlined his thinking.
Sometimes it’s not about you. We have to do that for those after us 🤷🏽♂️
– Josh Jacobs (@iAM_JoshJacobs) June 10, 2023
Jacobs, a first-round pick for former Raiders coach John Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock, was not picked for a fifth year in the final season by the staff of head coach Josh McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler. Jacobs gave the impression that he wanted to make a system change that would financially reduce his pool of positions. But at what cost? – Paul Gutierrez
What does this mean for giants and conquerors?
Bless me: The Giants will have to sit back and hope that Barkley will sign the franchise at some point and play this season. They depend on it. The backfield leads without Matt Breda and Gary Brightwell, with fifth-round rookie Eric Gray as well. This was not what I envisioned when compiling this list.
General Manager Joe Schoen said early in the offseason that using the franchise tag on Barkley was always a potential option. The Giants are totally fine going that route, and there’s never been too much urgency to sign Barkley once Daniel Jones finalized his deal before the March deadline. This later leads to Asterisk being left behind.
What the Giants are betting on now is that playing hardball to their squad’s face won’t crack their locker room. Barkley is one of the most respected players on the list. They’re crossing their fingers that this doesn’t create a distraction big enough to derail their season. – London
Jacobs: Jacobs’ productivity surprised McDaniels – the coach admitted that he was used to using the technique of running back by committee, rather than counting on it every time. But even though the coach insisted he was looking forward to Jacobs’ return, there’s a reason why the Raiders haven’t made literally any moves in their right cornerback room this offseason. No additives. No losses. All while holding seven appearances – Zamir White, Brandon Bolden, Amir Abdullah, Jacob Johnson, Brittain Brown, Sincere McCormick and Austin Walter.
Whistling by the cemetery? Maybe, but if Jacobs holds out and misses too much or even leaves the season, the Raiders feel they can count on continuity at center and can at least try to plug, play and run back by committee. But … the return of the production leaves much to be desired. a a lot than desirable.
Consider: White, Bolden, and Abdullah combined for 156 rushing yards and no TDs on 38 carries last season, averaging 4.1 yards per carry. Jacobs averaged 4.9 yards per carry on 340 rushing attempts. Yikes. – Gutierrez
Are Barkley and/or Jacobs willing to lose track of time by not signing the ticket? If so, how much time could they waste?
Bless me: It emerged last week that Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys will be in jeopardy if there is no long-term deal by the deadline. Well, there’s no deal on Deadline, which means we’re not likely to see Barkley until at least September.
Opening game against Dallas on September 10th. The bigger question now is whether he’s fully available for the regular season opener or missed games to prove the offense desperately needs him.
Barkley is clearly unhappy with how this whole negotiation has gone, especially with numbers leaked all the time. He believed that many of them were deceitful and portrayed him as “greedy”. There’s no way Barkley would show up for training camp and risk injury, considering the team didn’t come to the table with enough guaranteed cash to make him a giant for life. It will be interesting to see how long this continues with it being contradictory to Barkley’s usual team first rhetoric. – London
Jacobs: No doubt Jacobs will sit. See, he refused to sign the card and stuck to his word to stay away from this season…even as the Raiders did a “solid” job by changing his uniform number to his college No. 8 (he wore his No. 28 the first four NFL seasons).
How long he stays out will depend, again, on how seriously he gets to prove his point while leaving money on the table. Pulling a page out of Le’Veon Bell’s playbook would obviously be the nuclear option, but it also might be the only leverage the two-time Pro Bowler has going forward. – Gutierrez
What will it take for each running back to get a new deal?
Bless me: It doesn’t really matter at this point. The time to close the deal has passed. Now is the time to sit down and see what happens this season before both sides talk about a new deal. To make things worse for Barkley, the team has another franchise tag to use on him again next year, if they want to.
It appears the only path to a new deal for Barkley is if he plays so extraordinary this season that the Giants feel they cannot afford to lose him under any circumstances. So far this has not been the case. Maybe he’ll have to get over 1,300 yards last season and be an MVP candidate. Otherwise, it looks like the ship has already sailed on Barclay and the Giants being a forever thing. – London
Jacobs: While Mark Davis is only an intervening owner, if he had wanted to return Jacobs to a multi-year deal that Jacobs considered acceptable, it would have happened quickly. Yes, Jacobs has a fan in Davis, but the window for a multi-year deal is closed since they couldn’t agree to terms by Monday’s deadline.
“Josh is exceptional, he was the heart of our team, in my opinion,” Davis said this offseason. “He came to play every day. Tough, tough, tough guy. Just really proud of him. If only we had 22 Josh Jacobs [on the roster] With that mentality, he came every single day… This guy is amazing. “
Plus, Jacobs’ mentor, Hall of Famer Marcus Allen, has Davis’ ear and has already agreed to pay his wards, which of course can only happen now after this season, should any ill feelings be mitigated. Jacobs’ best bet for a multi-year deal from the Raiders would be another banner season, but the team could choose to franchise him again, leaving us in that position 12 months from now. – Gutierrez
Who are the other contestants keeping an eye on the market and who could get new deals over the next year?
In the short term, free agent Dalvin Cook could use three franchise marks (including the Dallas Cowboys’ Tony Pollard) as contract comparisons for his final deal. He should sign some time before the regular season.
It’s possible that Jonathan Taylor, a free agent in 2024, will be rooting for Barkley or Jacobs to achieve the upset and reach a deal by the deadline as a way to raise his market. Taylor and the Indianapolis Colts have been in initial talks about a new deal, and Indy has a precedent for basic contract extensions.
Young players entering the third year, like Naji Harris of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Javonte Williams of the Denver Broncos, could re-sign with their teams if they have big seasons in 2023. Tennessee’s Derrick Henry is 29, a year away from free agency and showing few signs. Willing to slow down, even if his 1,750-year career will catch up one day. – Jeremy Fowler