Giants GM Joe Schoen addresses his relationship with Saquon Barkley after contract dispute

While Saquon Barkley is at training camp for the New York Giants now, things looked bleak just a couple of weeks ago as it pertained to the relationship between the running back and the only franchise he’s known at the NFL level.

Second-year Giants general manager Joe Schoen decided to franchise-tag Barkley, and looked to ink the former Penn State star to an extension over the following months. For one reason or another, it didn’t come to fruition, and Barkley threatened to sit out for the foreseeable future.

Thankfully for both Barkley and the Giants, an agreement was reached on an amended deal for the 2023 season, and the running back is back in East Rutherford. His future still remains in question though, but don’t think the relationship between Barkley and Schoen is frayed, as the Giants GM explained on The Rich Eisen Show.

“Relationship’s good,” explained the Giants GM. “When we started negotiations, we started during the bye week. You know, brought him up to my office and just said, ‘Hey, you know you’ve been in the league for five years, you really haven’t been through this. This is the business part of it, and that’s exactly what this is. This is business. None of it is personal, and you just have to understand this is something you haven’t been through, and just always understand this is business and not personal.’ So anytime we talked throughout the process over the nine and a half months, you know I would remind him of that.

“Remember that, he understood it. He’s very mature. He’s a great teammate. We’re happy he’s here. We have a good relationship.”

Alas, that’s good news for Giants fans, and lends hope to the fact that a long-term deal will eventually get done. Continuing, Schoen was complimentary of Barkley’s demeanor, and how he’s been since reporting to camp.

“Again, we worked hard, both sides, to try and get something done, and we just couldn’t you know, find common ground, in terms of a landing spot, and that’s okay. You know there’s a lot of times deals don’t get done,” added Schoen. “But our relationship’s good. He came in, he’s been a pro.

“He wasn’t here this spring, which is, you know that’s an optional time for the players, and he came in in outstanding shape. He’s looked very good out there.”

If Saquon Barkley plays like he’s shown capable of in the past, the Giants will be hard pressed not to pay him. Regardless of the running back market, Barkley will be a very rich man if he performs in 2023.