Can Matt Breida be Giants’ caddy for Saquon Barkley?

Can veteran running back Matt Breida do for the New York Giants in 2022 what Devontae Booker did last season, capably backing up Saquon Barkley, at a much lower cost?

Let’s look at Breida as we continue our player-by-player profiles of the 90-man roster the Giants will bring to training camp.

By the numbers

Height: 5-foot-10
Weight: 190
Age: 27
Position: Running back
Experience: 5
Contract: One-year, $1.035 million base salary | Guaranteed: $277,500 | 2022 cap hit: $1,047,500

Career to date

Breida has had a nice career after making the San Francisco 49ers roster as an undrafted player out of Georgia Southern in 2017. Breida spent three seasons in San Francisco, one with the Miami Dolphins and last season with the Buffalo Bills.

During that time he has gained 2,281 rushing yards on 466 carries (4.9 yards per attempt) and has caught 83 passes for 729 more yards (8.8 per catch). He has also done just a bit of kickoff returning (6 returns for an average of 18.3 yards).

Breida was a bit player for the Bills last season. He played in just nine games with career lows in carries (26), yards rushing (125), and receptions (7). He still averaged 4.8 yards per rushing attempt in his limited chances.

2022 outlook

Needing a backup for Barkley after cutting Booker, GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll reached into their Bills roots and signed Breida.

The 27-year-old enters camp as the only truly experienced backup for Barkley, with Antonio Williams (another ex-Bill), Gary Brightwell, Sandro Platzgummer and undrafted free agent Jashaun Corbin all aiming to unseat him.

Best guess is that Breida hangs onto that No. 2 role behind Barkley, at least initially.