Saquon Barkley's future in New York has been at the forefront of questions surrounding the new brass' rebuild this season, with GM Joe Schoen noting he's willing to consider trading the former first-round running back.
But Giants co-owner John Mara tossed water on the conversation Sunday at the NFL's Annual Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida.
"We're not shopping Saquon, but Joe's the general manager," Mara told reporters, per Pat Leonard of the NY Daily News. "If he and the head coach want to make a personnel decision and have a conviction about it, I'm not gonna interfere with it. But that's not something we're actively looking to do, let's put it that way."
During the NFL Scouting Combine, reports suggested the Giants had discussed potentially moving on from Barkley. Mara's comments indicate otherwise, but part of the semantics could be that the return in such a trade makes little sense for Big Blue, given that any partner would likely require New York to eat a good portion of Barkley's $7.217 million salary in the final year of his rookie contract.
One of the most popular players in New York, Barkley's career has nosedived due to injury the past two seasons. In 2020 he played in just two games before suffering an ACL tear. He hasn't looked the same since, struggling to show any burst or elusiveness in 2021, earning just 593 yards on 162 carries and two TDs. The struggles come after the 25-year-old earned back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons to open his career.
On a team currently lacking star power, Mara said that Barkley's marketability wouldn't play a role in any trade decisions.
"I'm certainly conscious of that but I don't think it's a major factor," Mara said. "At the end of the day, [I want us to] put the best possible team on the field and build for the future. So I like him. He's been a great representative for us. I still think he's a really good player. He could potentially have a very big year this year. But at the end of the day the head coach and general manager make those decisions."
