Saquon Barkley has mentioned several times he wants to finish his career with the Giants, but that was before acrimonious contract talks left him unsatisfied with the end result.
The running back agreed to a one-year deal worth up to $11 million this season. Failing to receive the desired long-term deal left Barkley hurt.
It also has left him with an uncertain future as he’s scheduled to become a free agent in the offseason.
If he has his way, though, Barkley will remain with the team that drafted him No. 2 overall in 2018.
“Oh, yeah. I don’t think that really changed,’’ Barkley told Paul Schwartz of The New York Post at a promotional event Sunday. “They know how I feel. I’m not really too focused on that right now.’’
Barkley admits he was “bothered” by “some of the stuff” that transpired during talks. Before the July 17 deadline to reach agreement on a long-term deal, Barkley accused the Giants of “misleading” and “untruthful” leaks about negotiations that he felt portrayed him as “greedy.”
But Barkley now is looking ahead.
“Once I made the decision I was going to show up and I was going to be there and do my job, you’ve got to put all that aside,’’ Barkley said. “Got to be mature about it.’’
Barkley had not spoken publicly since July 27, the second day of training camp, because he is done with questions about his contract and the future.
“I just felt the questions would continue to be about the tag or the money situation,’’ Barkley said. “It’s in the past. I can’t control that. I know I came out and tweeted ‘It is what it is’ and that’s what I truly felt at the moment.’’
