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Madden 24's Rating Reveals took place this week, and as usual, fans and athletes alike take to social media to share their opinions and wage war over numbers. But as the ratings were revealed, an even bigger story was taking place in the football world.
The New York Giants and their starting RB Saquon Barkley failed to complete their contract negotiations before the deadline. The Giants signed Barkley to a non-exclusive franchise tag back in March, and it seems Barkley's only set to make $10.1 million in 2023. And you guessed it, Barkley is not happy with the numbers he is set to make.
Barkley isn't the only player with a situation like this on his hands. Cowboys' Guard Zack Martin, who joined the game's 99 club, is also displeased with his contract. Additionally, Raiders' RB Josh Jacobs is going through something similar as well.
But most of the spotlights shine on Barkley, who's willing to say (insert bad word here) to the Giants and his teammates.
Let's take a look at the situation from both sides. Then we'll ask the most important question; How does this affect Saquon's overall in Madden 24?
In Support of Saquon
We can't mention Barkley's contract situation without bringing up Daniel Jones' contract. Jones, who's not even a top 20 QB in Madden 24, signed a four-year, $160 million dollar contract extension with the Giants back in March. (For reference, Jones has a 75 overall, ranking him at 21 in total QBs). That took place the same day they tagged Barkley. Ouch.
In terms of the modern QB market, Jones isn't making anywhere near the most money. However, he is making more than most people thought he would. His 2023 Season wasn't bad, but nothing exciting. With a 9-6-1 record, Jones completed 67% of his passes for only 3,205 yards. Additionally, he threw for 15 TDs and 5 INTs, while running for 708 yards and 7 touchdowns.
He lead the Giants in an upset against Minnesota in the wildcard, but got trounced by the Eagles in a disgusting 38-7 divisional round loss.
Meanwhile, Barkley finally played his first healthy season since his rookie year, running for over 1,300 yards with 10 touchdowns to boot. He's not the same dual-threat RB with catching capabilities he was back in 2018.
The team is also spending lots of money on Leonard Williams and Adoree Jackson, which there's nothing wrong with. But they also owe backup QB Tyrod Taylor $5.4 million in 2023. The money management in the Big Apple has not been great recently.
Barkley's also one of the only good offensive draft picks the Giants made over the past few years. Kadarious Toney was a bust for the organization. Evan Engram found a better home in Jacksonville. Sterling Shepard can't stay healthy, meaning it's just Barkley (and arguably Darius Slayton). And don't even get us started om FA acquisition Kenny Golladay.
In Defense Of The Giants
Let's look at the top 3 paid RBs in 2023 via Spotrac:
- Bijan Robinson ($13.72 million)
- Christian McCaffrey ($12 million)
- Alvin Kamara ($11 million)
- Aaron Jones ($10.965 million)
- Nick Chubb ($10.85 million)
Out of the four Halfbacks listed above, only one's team made it to the playoffs in 2022. Barkley is set to make $10.1 million, which is tied for eighth most. Considering he's only played two full seasons, is he worth all that money?
Statistically, Barkley also hasn't been able to reach the numbers he had back in 2018. Sure he had career high rushing yards in 2022 (1,312) but on 34 less carries in 2018 he recorded 1,307 rushing yards. Barkley's receiving numbers in 2018 (91 catches, 721 yards, 4 TDs) blow his 2022 receiving totals out of the water (57 catches, 338 yards, 0 TD)
One could argue McCaffrey doesn't deserve the money either, but at least CMC's played four full seasons as opposed to two. Additionally, the 49ers offense needed the boost considering the problems with their QB situation.
And let's not mention Barkley's 2021 season, which saw him average 3.7 yards per carry. At least Josh Jacobs has a bit of an upper hand, considering he had over 2,000 scrimmage yards and scored 12 touchdowns last season. Additionally, Jacobs has more rushing yards and rushing touchdowns than Barkley despite the fact he joined the league a year later (they've both played 60 games).
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And let's mention the Elephant in the room, Le'Veon Bell. After sitting out in 2018 due to a holdout with the Steelers, Bell joined the Jets in 2019 only to never replicate his numbers. Let's also look at DeMarco Murray, who soared with the Cowboys before crashing with the Eagles in 2015. At the time, he signed a five-year, $42 million dollar contract, only to get traded to Tennessee the following year.
The Saquon Madden 24 Rating Conundrum
Currently, Saquon's Madden 24 overall is 93. He's the fifth best RB in terms of overall rating.
The best Backs in Football 🏈 #Madden24 RB ratings ➡️ https://t.co/jNG0WRU0Y3 pic.twitter.com/KMa87UOala
— Madden NFL 24 (@EAMaddenNFL) July 19, 2023
If Saquon refuses to play in 2023, his Madden Rating is inevitably going to drop. It's just what happens when you take into account a player has been separated from the sport they play.
Should he sit out in 2023, he'll only be 27 the following season. So it's possible his rating could still be in the high 80s, or maybe even low 90s. We'd also need to take into consideration Running back performance in 2023. If 2023 just happens to be year of the half-back or something, then Barkley's numbers could dip even more.
Lastly, what if the Giants' RB somehow perform well this season. Who knows? Is 5th-round rookie Eric Gray able to step up to the plate? It seems unlikely, but you never know. It doesn't help Saquon that Daniel Jones is an effective runner too. All these could factor into his rating over the course of the season.
Despite all the drama taking place, we feel Saquon's going to start this year. He can remove the Giants info from his Twitter bio all he wants, but does he really want to risk sitting out? Kyler Murray did the something similar last year but everything turned out okay with him and the Cardinals.
Just look at Le'Veon Bell. Perhaps it's better to just play and hope for better negotiations in 2024. If the Giants don't want to sign you then, there's 31 other teams who'll surely take a chance.
Conclusion
Out of everything Barkley and the Giants could be worried about, a simple rating in a video game series that hasn't even been great in a decade shouldn't really bother him.
Madden 24 releases August 18th for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via EA App, Steam, and Epic Games Store. Deluxe Edition owners get three days of early access.
For more Madden 24 news, check out ClutchPoints Gaming.
