Saquan Barkley has become one of the most polarizing players in recent Giants history. It is perplexing that he, along with Daniel Jones, should fall into this category as both players have represented the Giants well. Both on the field and off, both guys are representative of what most most fans look for in players on their team.

Barkley is now embroiled in a contract dispute with the Giants and there have been many comments related to this matter.

• Positional value. RB is no longer a premium position in a passing league.
• Barkley's contribution can be substantially replaced by a mid round pick.
• Running backs have a high injury rate
• Barkley and his agent misread the market and now must pay the consequences. Schoen is a tough negotiation and now has all the leverage.
• Barkley would be a fool to not sign the tag. Look at Le'Veon Bell.

Positional value. RB is no longer a premium position in a passing league.

• He represented 30% of the Giants total offense last year and 40% of the teams touches.
  
• In a league that values creating turnovers on defense and preventing turnovers on offense, he has 4 fumbles (1 lost) in 1,201 career touches.
  
• He had 83 pass blocking snaps last season and allowed six pressures which was the best percentage in the NFL.
  
• He tied for the team lead in receptions.
  

That seems to be a significant contribution to the Giants offense by a single player. Perhaps the idea that RB's are a singular group needs to be reconsidered and there are upper tiers that are significantly better.

Football also isn't the only sport that has evolved. Basketball was previously a big mans game and the idea was always to get higher percentage shots closer to the basket. But the three point shot is a large part of offensive strategy and big men are no longer considered as valuable as a generation ago. However, players such as Emblid, Jokic, A. Davis and Giannis (among others) are viewed differently from Rudy Gobert or Deondre Ayton. Same with baseball. Long gone are the days of Tom Seaver or Bob Gibson who would give you 280+ innings and 20 complete games routinely. Also gone are the days of Greg Maddux or Randy Johnson where you could count on 230 IP and 8-10 complete games annually. Now it's get through the lineup twice and we'll bring in series of RoboCop pitchers who will give us 1-2 IP every night. But teams still covet Cole or Verlander or deGrom because they are foundational pieces. Football is the only sport where star players (who are not QB's) are considered churn and depreciating assets.

Barkley's contribution can be substantially replaced by a mid round pick.

Every so often low round picks come in and play exceptionally well. Tom Brady, Cooper Kupp, Jason Kelce, George Kittle, Tyreek Hill, Stefan Diggs, Most guys come back to earth after the league has adjusted to them but others, like the guys listed previously have what it takes. For example, Matt Brieda in his second (age 23) season had 814 rushing yards (5.3 YPA) along with 24 receptions. He became a spot player by his age 24 season and the Giants are his 4th team in six year career. Looking to replace star players with middle round picks is not a sound strategy for building a roster. It's typically nothing but a short term fix.

Running backs have a high injury rate

Look at Giants recent WR’s. Steve Smith, Manningham, Nicks, Cruz, Rueben Randle, OBJ, Shep, Golladay. Not one had a good year after age 27. Most were cooked by 25.

The top WR's in 2019 as measured by receiving yards were Michael Thomas, Julio Jones, Godwin, Davante Parker, Keenan Allen and Kenny Golladay. Thomas has less than 600 yards total since that year. Julio has not performed either but has aged out. Chris Godwin still get 1,000 yards but averaged 9.8 YPC last year. Devante Parker hasn't't contributed much and Keenan Allen has been steady although in decline. We all know about Kenny Golladay.

The top 3 rushers were Derrick Henry, Nick Chubb and CMC. Zeke, who is the poster boy for not giving a RB a contract, was 4th. Chis Carson, who was a 7th round find, was fifth although he hasn't shown much since year three. Josh Jacobs was 8th, Mixon 9th and Cook 10th. Saqaun battled through injuries and came in 16th. These guys actually have shown some staying power.

Zeke's APY after signing his extension was $15M. Michael Thomas was $19.5 before they restructured. Godwin is $20M. Again, we all know about Kenny Golladay. Yet WR's keep getting bigger and bigger contracts.

Barkley and his agent misread the market and now must pay the consequences. Schoen is a tough negotiation and now has all the leverage.

None of us know the details of any contract offer that was made. The APY has been leaked numerous times but no detains on guarantees or incentives. APY without guarantees has about the same value as a shoebox full of skeeball tickets. Without this information, it is difficult to determine whether either party was foolish or shrewd.

The "market" for football players doesn't make a great deal of sense. It really consists of the draft and free agency signings. The draft has proven itself to largely be a crapshoot. There are more stories about buyers remorse in free agency than great successes. Markets get overheated. Markets correct. Markets are very volatile. The idea that anyone really understands the market, whether financial or sports, isn't especially realistic.

Leverage is a very tricky thing in negotiations. It can be used as a blunt instrument which gets short term results but diminishes goodwill or it can be used to get truly desired short term results while increasing, or at least not hurting goodwill. This situation hasn't fully played out yet and we'll see how it ends up.

Barkley would be a fool to not sign the tag. Look at Le'Veon Bell.