Saquon Barkley
Vincent Carchietta | USA TODAY Sports

We are very skeptical Saquon Barkley will grace the Giants’ facility at any point before the start of training camp — if even then.

But he hanging out with his quarterback and teammates currently. And that is worth noting, given he and the Giants are in the early days of a contract standoff that could easily turn quite ugly.

 

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Daniel Jones has brought his skill players out to Arizona for their annual offseason workouts, according to ESPN. And Barkley is there for what could turn out to be some of his only work with Jones this offseason.

Barkley is going to play for the Giants in 2023, barring something unforeseen. But he is technically not employed by the team until he signs his franchise tag tender. There is no reason to expect that will happen anytime soon. Nor should it, if you are approaching the situation from Barkley’s perspective.

The Giants made Barkley a long-term offer he did not deem acceptable (we can certainly debate the wisdom of his stance). They then hit him with the tag and withdrew the offer, putting talks back to Square No. 1. And it is clear general manager Joe Schoen has no issue with Barkley playing under the tag in 2023.

It’s hard to imagine anything gets done before the July 15 tag extension deadline. That should mean Barkley stays away from the entire offseason program, including minicamp in June. You figure he will relent and sign the tag at the start of training camp. But if he really wants to express displeasure with the Giants, he could skip a few days of camp. Or the whole thing.

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James Kratch can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @jameskratch.

James Kratch is the managing editor of ESNY. He previously worked as a Rutgers and Giants (and Mike Francesa) beat reporter for NJ Advance Media.