Why It Doesn't Make Sense for Giants to Trade Saquon Barkley Now

As Knox noted, Unloading Barkleys's $7.217 million salary is a big reason why the "trade him now" talks remain alive.

The second overall pick in the 2018 draft is entering the final year of his rookie contract. He was superb as a rookie Pro Bowler but has had his career derailed by injuries. He barely topped 1,000 rushing yards in his second season, suffered a torn ACL in 2020, and averaged a mere 3.7 yards per carry in 2021. While a healthy Barkley could help get more out of Jones, he could also bring much-needed value in a trade.

While there is no disputing that the money would be nice, there is a two-fold counterargument against it.

First, the free-agent pickings are slim to where if the Giants even wanted to add to the roster at a position, there's just not a lot out there right now that would qualify for needing a lot of money.

At this point, the Giants, who still need to sign three of their draft picks (Wan'Dale Robinson, Dane Belton, and Daniel Bellinger) before training camp opens, should have more than enough left over from the $6.649 million cap space the NFLPA's public cap report says they currently have, to add a guy or two at the bottom of the roster on a minimum deal or a reserve/futures type of contract.

And as a final word on the cap situation, the Giants will likely have more space on their cap once they make training camp cuts. While that amount is still to be determined, very early projections should boost their available cap space by anywhere from $3-$5 million--and that's a conservative estimate.

Knox wondered aloud if the Giants might be able to pry a high Day 2 pick from some team willing to trade for Barkley, but with a caveat:

His guaranteed $7.2 million salary isn't excessive, and the Giants might be able to pry a high Day 2 pick from a contender if they're willing to absorb some of it.

There are a few counterarguments here. First, If Barkley, despite his recent injury history, is worth a high Day 2 pick, as Knox suggested, the odds are that if he's not re-signed after this year, he might bring a third-round comp pick for the Giants.

That wouldn't be bad if it worked out that way. Let's say the Giants need to trade up to get a new quarterback--a big if at this point. Such a move is likely to necessitate a small king's ransom and would require the Giants to dip into their 2024 draft stock. Thus, the more picks they accumulate, the better, regardless of round.

As for Knox's opinion that the Giants are "a franchise that isn't ready to compete now," while it is fair to say the team is still a ways away from entering the Super Bowl discussion in a weak NFC East where there hasn't been one truly dominant team, who's to say that the Giants won't be able to surprise a few people?

The Giants have done quarterback Daniel Jones no favors in creating the ideal environment for him to succeed. Whether it was the offensive line or the overall supporting cast, the fact that the Giants still don't know after three seasons is simply criminal.

This year, the organization has thrown its full support behind Jones, determined to find out if he's their long-term answer. General manager Joe Schoen upgraded the offensive line as best as possible given the cap situation. He revamped the tight ends room and added another gadget type of player in receiver Wan'Dale Robinson.

The Giants also hired a set of coaches with philosophies for running an offense that aligns with the league's recent evolution. No more stick routes for this group--it's going to be, get the ball into the hands of the playmakers and let them do their thing, and picking select spots to stretch the field.

Barkley, as evidenced by his deployment in the spring, is going to be a big part of all that. While one might argue that he's a "boom or bust" runner--an argument based on his production is valid--there is no disputing that Barkley when he gets into space, is a weapon for an offense.

In his rookie season, he led all running backs in forced missed tackles (31).

Given all that and what appears to be a heavy workload planned for him in this year's offense, suggesting his removal from the picture at this juncture would not be in the team's best interest.