The Giants have an extensive offseason checklist, with one of the main bullet points being defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson, who is now a free agent.
With other pressing matters such as bringing back star defensive tackle Leonard Williams, will New York have the financial capabilities to keep Tomlinson in the team’s future plans?
“Tomlinson is going to be tough,” NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo told Moose & Maggie on Tuesday. “It’s going to come in north of $10 million, we know that, the question is how north of $10 million is he?”
The question of cost could likely determine whether the former second-round pick is back with the Giants next season, especially given the other areas of concern that the team needs to address during the offseason.
“If you’re into the $12-13 million per year range, it’s going to be tough,” Garafolo said. “You have a lot of things you need to handle if you’re the Giants, not the least of which would be a Saquon Barkley deal eventually. There’s a lot of other places that they’ll have to allocate resources. This Dalvin Tomlinson one is going to be tough here.”
Barkley will be another tricky situation for New York, after the star running back missed nearly all of the 2020-21 season due to a torn ACL, which he expects to recover from and be ready for Week 1 of the upcoming season. But that injury may have complicated potential negotiations for a big-time contract, despite Barkley’s resume as a two-time 1,000-yard rusher.
“His situation is interesting coming off the injury, because now is when you’d make that push,” Garafolo said. “The first year that you’re eligible to make a deal as a running back, you get it as early as possible. I’ll be curious to see how that one’s going to shake out.”
The Giants could hold off on Barkley until after this season, and see how he holds up through an entire season, but as it has in the past with running backs looking to secure a big contract and find security at a position with a shorter shelf life than most, it could become contentious.
“Sometimes, these things have to get ugly with a running back,” Garafolo said. “I remember last year with Alvin Kamara, it got extremely ugly. [Ezekiel Elliot] got ugly at some point too. That’s not Saquon’s MO, that’s not this organization’s MO…at some point you’ve got to make a team willing to go that extra mile to get a contract done, especially when you’re in a situation where you’re still two years out from being a free agent and beyond that you’re playing tag.”
Listen to Garafolo's full interview with Moose & Maggie below!
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