The offseason has brought on a lot of changes to the league in terms of the way each team is shaping up. Whether it was the way the whole Lamar Jackson drama unfolded with the Ravens, or Aaron Rodgers’ trade to the NY Jets, the offseason has seen a lot. Interestingly, there have been multiple NFL players who’ve spoken about the way the offseason is functioning. One such popular duo who’ve been talking about the offseason has been Jason and Travis Kelce.
The Kelce brothers took to their New Heights podcast to speak about the recent developments taking place with the New York Giants. They went on to speak about how Saquon’s course of action might be a little detrimental to his career.
Jason and Travis Kelce pass judgment over Barkley’s actions
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Saquon Barkley has been one of the best running backs in the league for a while now. However, due to a lot of conflict with the Giants, the running back has had to take some extreme measures in terms of getting what he believes he is owed. However, his moves have caused even players like the Kelce brothers to comment on it.
Sadly, due to him feeling like he is underpaid, the running back has gone on to threaten that he is willing to sit out the entire season if his contract isn’t upped. Interestingly, the Giants have also placed the franchise tag on him during his protest. After the drama with Jackson and the Ravens, this has slowly started becoming the next big controversy during this off-season. So naturally, the Kelce brothers weighed in on this.
They spoke about how Barkley would be ignoring his current contract of over $10 million for an increased contract. Travis himself thought that he would go on to play because a pay like $10 million was brilliant. He also spelled out Saquon’s thoughts and said, “Barkley said he’s been frustrated by untruthful and misleading reports about his ongoing contract negotiations with the front office aimed at making him look greedy.” Interestingly, this connected to Jason’s thoughts on the whole situation.
Jason thought Saqoun’s actions might have emerged from a place that wasn’t about money. He spoke about how the running back might have felt disrespected. The older Kelce said, “I think in very rare instances does it make sense to sit a full year out. I do not think it makes sense to sit out when you’re talking about 10.2 million dollars but I understand that this is about more than just the money. Like obviously things have gotten to a point where Saquon feels like he’s disrespected.” With the way the drama between the Giants and Barkley has unfolded, the older Kelce might be right.
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Saquon Barkley’s drama with the Giants
Saquon Barkley has made it clear that he wants to get what he thinks he is due. The Giants’ star running back has not been attending the mandatory minicamps or the OTAs. He seems to know what he is worth and what he brings to the table. So, even though he has been franchise tagged, the running back has made it clear that if a better deal cannot be reached, he will consider sitting out for the season. And as it turns out, Jason was right because Barkley himself has said that this is more about the respect he feels he is due.
Admittedly, Barkley has proven himself on the field as he rushed for 1,312 yards in the last season, making him the 4th highest-rushing running back in the season. He was also a huge reason behind the Giants ending on a winning record of 9-7-1. All in all, the Giants and Barkley just need to reach a middle ground when it comes to how they deal with the running back’s contract. It only remains to be seen if the Giants can bring a contract that Barkley agrees to and comes back to play for the Giants.
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