This upcoming offseason is shaping up to be a wild one. One that’s absolute BANANALAND. With names like Lamar Jackson, Orlando Brown Jr., and Jessie Bates hitting the market, there is a lot to look forward to. Now, another name could potentially hit free agency. It appears that Giants Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley won’t be back in the Big Apple next fall as there is still a “gap” in negotiations between the team and Barkley (New York Post). Dov Kleiman reported that the Giants are not likely to pay Barkley $12.5 million a year and have “little interest” in placing the $10.1 million dollar franchise tag on him.
With Barkley not likely back in blue next season, I’ve compiled a list of teams that could sign Barkley. Many teams want Barkley, but only a few have a legit shot. Here are three teams with real shots at landing the dynamic playmaker.
Chicago Bears
The Bears could have an unreal offseason. They have the number one overall pick and over 90 million dollars in cap space. With lots of holes on their entire roster, they’ll have their pick of the litter in free agency. One of the positions that Chicago does have a solid player at is running back with David Montgomery, but you can always upgrade and Barkley is an upgrade from Montgomery. The reason I think the Bears will go out and grab Barkley is to take stress off Justin Fields. Fields was the Bears leading rusher this past season and if Chicago wants to keep Fields healthy, they’ll get him help in the backfield.
Barkley rushed for 1,312 yards in 2022 with 10 touchdowns while also catching 57 passes for 338 yards. Those receiving stats alone would have made Barkley the third most productive receiver on Chicago’s roster. He caught more passes than any Bears players and would have had the third most yards of any Bears player. It appears that Barkley will want around 12 million a year which is attainable for the Bears. They could give the 26 year old back a 4 year, 48 million dollar contract. My only qualm would be Barkley’s injury history. In his five seasons in New York, he’s only played two full seasons. Nevertheless, I think Chicago is destination one for Barkley.
Miami Dolphins
The Fins went to work last offseason, but there is still room for improvement. In the 2022 offseason, Miami signed Tyreek Hill, Terron Armstead, and Alec Ingold, but they need a dominant running back. Barkley’s duality in the run and pass game might be the best in the whole league. He’s a great check down option and in one on one matchups vs linebackers, he has the upper hand. Raheem Mostert was pretty efficient on the carpet rushing for 891 yards and 3 touchdowns, but he’s not a legit threat in the pass game. The same goes for Jeff Wilson Jr. and Myles Gaskin: they’re not passing threats.
What stops me in my tracks on Miami signing Barkley is that they’re 16 million dollars over the cap. They’ll need to restructure big contracts like Bryon Jones making 16.5 million a year, Emmanuel Ogbah making 16.3 million a year, and Bradley Chubb making 22 million a year. If they aren’t able to restructure or trim the fat, they don’t have a shot at Barkley.
Atlanta Falcons
Behind Chicago’s 90 million in cap space, Atlanta is second with 57 million in cap space. A lot of their good players are still on rookie deals like Kyle Pitts, Drake London, and A.J. Terrell and they should utilize this massive cap space to sign an elite back. The Falcons have great weapons with London, Patterson, Pitts, and Zaccheaus, and adding Barkley to the mix would be a massive benefit to Desmond Ridder. While Atlanta has a solid backfield with Patterson and Allgeier, adding Barkley would be interesting. Dave Ragone could split Patterson out wide and use Allgeier and Barkley as a 1-2 punch with Barkley playing on passing downs while Allgeier is used in the red zone.
Much like Chicago, Atlanta has many holes in their roster. They’ll want to address their need for linebackers and pass rushers, but Barkley should be a high priority player. He’ll be great as a check down for Ridder and maybe signing Barkley could be what the Falcons need to win the NFC South. Their division is ripe for a hostile takeover and Atlanta is close. Their young core coupled with vets like Grady Jarrett, Chris Lindstrom, Jake Matthews, and Casey Hayward could be a nine win team and secure the third or fourth seed in the 2023-2024 playoffs.
