Saquon Barkley had a terse and to-the-point response when asked what the next step in his contract dispute with the Giants could be. What could Barkley’s next step be? Well, it could be to say, “F*ck you.”
On an episode of the Money Matters podcast that was taped just before the league’s July 17 deadline for agreeing on a new contract, Barkley used colorful language to explain the leverage he has over the Giants.
“My leverage is I could say, ‘fuck you’ to the Giants, I could say, ‘fuck you to my teammates,’” Barkley said. “And be like, ‘You want me to show you my worth? You want me to show you how valuable I am to the team? I won’t show up. I won’t play a down.’ And that’s a play I could use.”
Update: Saquon Barkley explains his leverage on the #Giants – ‘F**k You’
“My leverage is I could say, ‘F–k you’ to the Giants, I could say, ‘F–k you to my teammates,'”
“And be like, ‘You want me to show you my worth? You want me to show you how valuable I am to the team? I… pic.twitter.com/py0VB9fdpO
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) July 19, 2023
Barkley expressed that it’s not his desire to miss camp, “but now I’m at a point where I’m like, ‘Jesus, I might have to take it to this level.’”
The Giants running back is not alone. Raiders running back Josh Jacobs failed to agree with his team on a new deal, as did Cowboys back Tony Pollard. Pro Football Talk reported on Monday that several high-profile running backs were coordinating a social media campaign to pressure teams to alter the NFL pay structure and pay running backs more money.