Saquon Barkley is in a dilemma. It was almost a week ago that he was expecting two of the top franchises fighting over him when both the Giants and the Chargers were reportedly interested in him, in a tug of war for securing Barkley. However, the things that flipped in a week were not something extraterrestrial, it was simply some dollars. Something that has chained most of the teams ahead of the NFL trade day.

Jim Harbaugh is facing his first head coaching crisis because of the salary cap. When Harbaugh has to consider eliminating one or all of his veteran players owing to the over-the-cap numbers, he can hardly consider adding more players to his roster. USA Today’s Alex Insdorf confirmed Harbaugh’s predicament with his prediction. “I just don’t see Joe Hortiz spending big money on a back (Barkley, Henry, anyone in the 5-10 $ mil AAV tier) because it would wipe out the decently high late day 2/early day 3 ekeler 2025 comp pick,” claimed he.

It was recently that Jim Harbaugh and Joe Hortiz freed up about $10 million from their over-the-cap budget by restructuring their contract with Corely Linsey. Per Shawne Merriman, it would need only two more contract restructures to get the Chargers under the salary cap. Amidst all this, it’s only natural for Joe Hortiz to let go of the expected cards and play the best with the best ones available to him. Hence, Harbaugh’s 2024 season would not only focus on winning the Super Bowl but also on understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the Chargers roster.

It would be out of the equation for the Chargers to tag Barkley, but his team New York Giants, who were also eager to put their tag on their player who went free-agent last off-season, are also giving up on Barkley.

Giants to not tag Saquon Barkley

Per a report released by the NY Post, last season a franchise tag cost about $10.1 million to the Giants. Now, with Barkley maturing as a player, he demands a steep 20% raise in his salary, a  $2 million bump up to right around $12 million for the 2024 season, which would be quite a commitment from Joe Schoen, given Barkley’s records till 2022.

READ ALSO: Jim Harbaugh Handed “Easy Fix” to Resolve Salary Cap Issues After Initial $10 Million Move

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In 2023, the Giants turned out to be one of the league’s most disappointing teams, going 6-11. Surely, there were other mitigating factors, but it was Barkley missing three games with a high ankle sprain, and running for only 962 yards that raised questions. Would Barkley end up as a free agent again? Or would a franchisee benefit from his experience?

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