The Giants and Saquon Barkley hit a rough spot in their relationship this summer, but the running back still wants the same thing he has always wanted. He hopes to remain a “Giant for life.”
The trade deadline is approaching at the end of the month, and with the Giants sitting 1-5, the team could be sellers.
“Everyone knows how I feel,” Barkley said Thursday, via Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post. “Everyone knows I don’t want to get traded.”
There are no guarantees for Barkley this season or beyond as he is scheduled to become a free agent after this season. The sides couldn’t work out a long-term contract before the franchise tag deadline, so who knows if they could come to agreement with a second try.
But Barkley wants to stay with the team that drafted him in the first round in 2018 for now and for the future.
“Obviously, I’ve been vocal and public about how I feel about this organization and where I want to be,” Barkley said. “Knowing the business and seeing that side of it, there’s a lot of things I can’t control. I don’t think anybody in their right mind would want to get traded anywhere. It’s not an easy thing to do. You’ve got to move. I have a family. I would love to be here.”
Barkley insists it has never crossed his mind that his time with the Giants might be ending soon.
“I can’t control that,” Barkley said. “It’s not like I’m able to make any decisions or have any say in that. The only say that I have is the way I show up to work and the way I compete.”