The Giants opened their voluntary offseason workouts on Monday in East Rutherford without two of the team’s star players.
Saquon Barkley and Dexter Lawrence were not in attendance due to ongoing contract discussions with the team. Barkley was franchise tagged after the Giants signed Daniel Jones to a long-term contract extension and has not signed his tender, while Lawrence is still under contract, but is looking for a contract extension himself.
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Giants head coach Brian Daboll remained mum about the situation, saying on Monday that he had addressed the team and spoke with both players, but he wouldn’t get into specifics about the conversations.
“Yeah, I take it day by day,” Daboll said during a virtual availability on Monday. ” I’ve had conversations with both those guys. And you know, both of those conversations will remain private. … That’s kind of where we’re at.”
Barkley is set to make $10.1 million next season under the franchise tag and Lawrence will make just over $12.4 million after the Giants picked up the option on his deal.
Barkley is not allowed to be at the Giants facility until he has signed his tender offer. Reports have surfaced that the running back is unhappy with the idea of playing the season under the franchise tag and doesn’t play to sign it anytime soon.
While that may be a concern for the Giants organization privately, it certainly wasn’t an issue with Daboll on Monday.
“With each case, whether it’s Dexter, Saquon, another player, they’re all a little bit different. Again, they’re voluntary (workouts). It’s April 17. We’ve got a long way to go here,” Daboll said.
Lawrence is allowed to enter the building because he is under contract, but there has been no indication that he would be there anytime soon.
Both players played important roles for the Giants last season in helping New York make its first postseason appearance since 2016. Barkley had his best NFL season since his rookie year last seasaon with a career-best 1,312 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns while being named AP Comeback Player of the Year.
Lawrence was named second-team All-Pro last season and set new career marks with his 7.5 sacks and 28 quarterback hits. The defensive lineman also had career highs in total tackles, tackles for losses, pass breakups and forced fumbles.
While both players’ absences from the offseason program have been headline news heading into Monday, the players inside the Giants’ locker room didn’t seem too caught up in the situation.
“We’re just focusing on getting better each day. Those things will handle themselves,” Andrew Thomas said,
Jones echoed a similar sentiment when he was asked about the situation, particularly with Barkley. Jones and Barkley have been close over the years and the QB’s contract situation had a direct impact on how the Giants handled Barkley’s contract.
Talks between the Giants and the running back had been going on since the team’s bye week in November. Still, no deal has been agreeable between the two sides and the window to sign Barkley to a long-term deal closes in July.
Jones remained tight-lipped about his conversations with Barkley since the contract situation began, but said that the team understood what he was going through and know what a good teammate he is. The Giants quarterback also indicated that Barkley’s offseason preparation wasn’t being impacted by the contract stalemate.
“Knowing those two guys, their team first guys, are great teammates to everybody,” Jones said about Barkley and Lawrence. “And everyone in our locker room has a tremendous amount of respect for both of them. So you know, that’s team business.”
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