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Giants RB Saquon Barkley looks ready for 2023 during intense 'leg day' workout

profilephotocropby:Suzanne Halliburton•07/07/23•

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saquon barkley
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Saquon Barkley continues to pump out his freakish workout videos. And maybe his leg day will inspire you into a gym visit. Or maybe it’ll intimidate you into spending the weekend on the couch.

The NFL shared the latest video clip of Barkley, the New York Giants running back, as he showed off the muscles in his thighs. The rest of the video shows you how he got so ripped.

Saquon Barkley is doing most of his hard work in Phoenix

Saquon Barkley isn’t working out with his fellow Giants. Back in March, the team placed a franchise tag on him offering a $10.1 million deal for 2023. Barkley didn’t accept the offer. So since he’s an unsigned player with a franchise tag, the Giants can’t allow him on the property.

Although Barkley and the Giants can’t agree, as yet, on a contract, the situation hasn’t halted Barkley’s intense workouts. He spent the last three months in Phoenix at Exos. There, he relied on the private coaching company to help him increase his speed and endurance. The New York Post interviewed the running back’s personal coach Nicholas Hill, who has worked with Barkley each off season since he tore his ACL in 2020.

“One of the big goals for him is he wanted to get back his speed burst that he felt like he had his rookie year,” Hill said. “He feels like he is 100 percent from the knee injury, but there’s still that little bit of another gear that he felt like he was missing.

“He definitely has that gear right now. The players did their throwing camp in Charlotte last week, and he said he’s never felt better or faster running routes.”

Saquon Barkley hasn’t spent all his time working out in Phoenix. Late last month, he played a game of NFL-sponsored flag football at Stagwell Sport Beach during the Cannes Lions Festival Cannes, France. (Richard Bord/Getty Images for Stagwell)

One play against Eagles nagged him all off season

Saquon Barkley rushed for a career-high 1,312 yards in 2022. But he obsessed over a late run he had against the Eagles in the second round of the NFC playoffs. A Philadelphia defender caught him from behind. What initially appeared to be an 80-yard touchdown dash ended after 39 yards.

“Oh, it stuck with him,” Hill said of Barkley’s run. “We talked about that play very early on. He’s a phenomenal athlete, very confident, but also self-aware. He understands the areas he needs to improve and attacks them head-on. For the first 2-to-3 months, the big focus was straight-ahead linear speed.”

So now you know the motivation behind excessive leg day.

Within the next 10 days, the Giants are hoping to get the Barkley contract situation settled. The NFL deadline for players to sign franchise offers is July 17. The former Penn State star, who was the No. 2 pick of the 2018 draft, has said he’ll sit out training camp if necessary. The ultimate, drop dead date comes in week 10 of the season.

“I think that’s a conversation,” he told reporters in late June in regards to training camp. “Like you said, that’s a card I could play. That comes up in conversation if something don’t get done by July 17. … We got a little bit of time in between there. When that date comes up, then I’ll have to sit down with my team, sit down with my family and make decisions. See what we’re going to do. What’s the next game plan? What’s the next move?”