Najee Harris: The Giants actually screwed Saquon Barkley

Add Najee Harris to the record of gamers who consider operating backs are being slighted in contract talks.

One day after the Giants and Saquon Barkley came to an agreement on a contract for the upcoming season, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ operating again stated the Giants slighted a significant offensive cog for his or her staff.

“Saquon collected for nearly 30% of the offense,” Harris said Wednesday. “Why can’t you take a look at that and say, ‘OK, effectively he stated he’s not attempting to interrupt the market or set the market, however he’s attempting to get compensated of what he thinks is truthful’ … I do know that they know themselves, that ain’t truthful what he’s getting. He wished a protracted contract to know his safety there.

“Proper now, he doesn’t haven’t any safety. They’re simply going to in all probability make the most of him the identical approach. And if one thing occurs to him once more, they’re going to in all probability look someplace else.”

Barkley rushed 295 occasions for 1,312 yards and 10 touchdowns final season, however that top utilization can chew a operating again when it comes time to negotiating salaries.

“You guys are utilizing us to perform what you guys need,” Harris stated. “After which when it’s time for us to re-up or ask for one thing that we expect is true, you guys simply flip the cheek and say, ‘Properly, you will have put on and tear.’”

Barkley, like most high-caliber backs, was additionally a receiving menace.

He had 338 receiving yards with a median of six yards per reception – but another excuse why Harris believes operating backs deserve larger compensation.

Harris is coming into his third season within the league, and has already amassed 579 carries and a couple of,234 yards for Pittsburgh.

The franchise tag for operating backs is the second-lowest for any place at $10.1 million, forward of solely the $5.4 million for kickers.

“For them to say that the operating again place, you’re slotted at this a lot cash, I don’t suppose that that’s proper due to what we’re requested to do,” stated Harris, who has two years left on his rookie contract.

“There’s a number of operating backs who’s doing receiving. There’s a number of operating backs doing blocking and all that stuff. So that you can simply say operating again and that’s our market, and if it doesn’t hit that, then it goes down decrease. That’s not proper.”

Barkley can earn with incentives $11.1 million this upcoming season, a $900,000 enhance from the Giants’ preliminary provide.

But when the league’s stance on operating again’s worth doesn’t change, he could face an analogous scenario with negotiating a contract subsequent offseason.