{"id":1547154,"date":"2023-01-22T14:29:09","date_gmt":"2023-01-22T19:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1547154"},"modified":"2023-01-22T14:29:11","modified_gmt":"2023-01-22T19:29:11","slug":"saquon-barkley-contract-rb-thrills-giants-fans-admission-extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/saquon-barkley-contract-rb-thrills-giants-fans-admission-extension\/","title":{"rendered":"Saquon Barkley Contract: RB Thrills Giants Fans With Admission About Extension"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you told New York Giants<\/a> fans (or even Giants players and coaches) before the season that they would make the NFC Divisional Round, they would have been overjoyed. That doesn't make Saturday's 38-7 beat-down at the hands of their NFC East-rival Philadelphia Eagles any easier. After the game, the offseason questions began, especially regarding the Daniel Jones <\/a>and Saquon Barkley contracts. On the latter front, Barkley made an admission to reporters after the game that will get Giants fans back to celebrating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Saquon Barkley contract answer was music to Giants fans' ears<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Saquon
Saquon Barkley | Rich Graessle\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As the No. 2 overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft, the initial Saquon Barkley contract was a four-year, $31,194,751 contract with a $20,767,092 signing bonus and an average annual value (AAV) of $7,798,688. For 2022, the Giants picked up the running back's fifth-year option for $7,217,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barkley is now an unrestricted free agent<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Giants could use the franchise tag on the RB. The current projection for that number is $10.1 million, per\u00a0CBS Sports<\/a>. That would only keep him in blue through the 2023 season, but it could be preferable to making Barkley the highest-paid running back in the league.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, the top-five highest-paid RBs look like this (by AAV):<\/p>\n\n\n\n