As the Giants officially announce their one-year contract agreement with Saquon Barkley, Tiki Barber says general manager Joe Schoen deserves all the praise for avoiding a potential training camp controversy, while barely increasing what Barkley would have made under the franchise tag.
“I give Joe Schoen so much credit for getting this - I call it a deal, but it’s not really a deal, because he’s giving him $2 million in signing bonuses that he was making already,” Tiki said. “The biggest takeaway for me is that Joe Schoen pulled off a masterclass in avoiding probably the only distraction, outside of injury, that could have affected the early part of Giants training camp.
“It looked like it could have gotten ugly with Saquon Barkley…but the reality is, if you don’t have to pay somebody, you don’t have to.”
Tiki says Schoen and the Giants also had the advantage of Barkley not having many options in terms of how to proceed under the franchise tag, as is the harsh reality for running backs in the modern NFL.
“The only thing he could do was go to camp and ball,” Tiki said. “But it’s hard to do that when everybody’s telling you to hold out.”
WFAN AFTERNOONS
Follow WFAN's afternoon team on Twitter: @EvanandTikiWFAN, @EvanRobertsWFAN, @TikiBarber, @TommyLugauer, and @ShaunMorash
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
Listen live to WFAN:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker (just say ‘Play W-F-A-N’)