With the NFL's deadline for franchise-tagged players to reach long-term extensions with their respective teams a couple of hours away on Monday, time is of the essence for star running back Saquon Barkley and the New York Giants. The Giants, who placed the franchise tag on Barkley back in March, have tweaked their contract offer to Barkley, per the latest NFL rumors.

New York increased the guaranteed money in their contract offer from $19.5 million to just over $22 million, sources told Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post.

However, this offer from the Giants to Barkley also included a lower average annual value for the star halfback, who had reportedly turned down a $13 million offer with $19.5 million in guaranteed cash.

Barkley posted a tweet with two cap emojis, indicating that he felt the report was false. It's not the first time the star running back has spoken about the narrative surrounding him during the contract talks with the Giants.

Barkley called out the Giants for leaking contract reports that he said “make him look like he's greedy.”

ESPN's Dianna Russini reported that Barkley is not a fan of the franchise tag, and that his Week 1 status could be in jeopardy should he and the Giants fail to agree to a long-term contract extension before the 4 PM Eastern deadline.

Barkley, 26, is coming off of a rebound year that saw him rush for a career-high 1,312 yards and 10 touchdowns while adding another 57 receptions for 338 yards through the air.

He clearly wants a payday. But the Giants, perhaps wary of the declining running back market, have, up to this point, balked at giving him one.

Time is running out.