A massive surprise hit the NFL on Tuesday morning as the New York Giants and Saquon Barkley agreed to a one-year, $12 million contract that allows him to avoid the franchise tag in order to play this season. While Barkley will now be getting ready to report to training camp, the full contract incentives have been revealed, reports ESPN's Adam Schefter.
“To be precise, Giants’ RB Saquon Barkley had $909,000 worth of incentives added to his deal for three categories: 1350 rushing yards plus a playoff berth, 65 receptions, 11 touchdowns.”
In essence, Saquon Barkley will net himself almost an extra $1m if he can have a Barkley-type season for the Giants. Either way, both sides have to be really glad that the contract saga is over and they can focus on the season ahead.
It was starting to look like Barkley was going to be joining disgruntled running back Josh Jacobs in not reporting for training camp and potentially miss games this season. This is obviously not the case now, so it will be very interesting to see how Jacobs and the Las Vegas Raiders respond.
Everything that has been reported seems to suggest that the Raiders and Jacobs don't have as good of a relationship as Barkley and the Giants do. Nevertheless, all eyes will now be on Vegas and Jacobs with Barkley officially set to sign this one-year contract and play this season.
Giants fans are now going to be thrilled for a season with high expectations after a playoff birth last season. With Barkley in the backfield, the Giants will have a chance to make some noise in the NFC East.