Saquon Barkley says Giants wanted to exploit his injury history by tabling $10,000,000 contract offer

Saquon Barkley is at risk to miss the opening slew of games this season due to a contract negotiation impasse with the New York Giants. While things might be coming to a head right now, the two sides have been building up to this point for quite some time, starting during the 2022 season. At least, that's what the Giants running back indicated on the Money Matters podcast earlier this week.

Basically, it seems that Barkley felt that the team made an initial somewhat lower offer in an attempt to leverage his injury history. Here's how the running back put it:

"I got offered [a deal] during the bye week," said Barkley. "In the bye we only had like three days. I wasn't gonna accept it. I was like, 'You know what, I rather kind of just finish off the season.' The number that they offered me, they kind of thought I might jump out because of my injury history."

Catch Barkley's comments from 5:40 onwards:

He continued, explaining why he declined the offer and how the move was positive and negative.

"But as me being a competitor, I was like, 'I'd rather bet on myself. I know how my body feels... I feel like I'm [going to] continue to have a good season. Ended up doing that. We made the playoffs. Then it gets kind of tricky because now you can get tagged and get to a certain deadline."

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Le'Veon Bell's precedent gives Saquon Barkley reason to cave

Saquon Barkley at NFC Divisional Playoffs - New York Giants v Philadelphia Eagles

Saquon Barkley isn't the first running back to expect a massive deal and get stuck with a franchise tag. He's also not the first one to refuse to accept the tag and holdout. The most recent high-profile running back to follow through on such a situation was Le'Veon Bell, who was one of the top backs in the league before the holdout.

However, after the holdout eventually ended with him leaving the Pittsburgh Steelers, he never was the same. Before the holdout, he had earned at least 1250 yards in three of his most recent four seasons. After the holdout ended, Bell never crossed 800 yards on the ground again.

Barkley finds himself standing on a similar precipice. Will he be back in the facility in time for Week 1 or is the running back willing to skip out on the team into September?

If any of the above quotes are used, please credit the Money Matters podcast and H/T Sportskeeda.