Top 5 potential landing spots for Saquon Barkley

New York Giants halfback Saquon Barkley is in the final year of his rookie contract. In that time, he’s won a Rookie of the Year Award, had two 1,000-yard rushing seasons, and...scored just four times in the last two-plus years due to injuries.

Barkley’s value will never be higher than it is right now. He is currently second in the NFL in rushing and already has as many scores on the ground as he did last season. It’s clear that under new head coach Brian Daboll, Barkley has regained his 2018 form. So, now, with the Giants likely not being competitive this year, the Giants have two options. They can either extend Barkley to a much more lucrative contract and hope they build a championship-caliber team around him, or trade him away before his contract expires (perhaps a sign-and-trade). I’m not the only person considering this possibility either.

Sure, the Giants are 2-1, and as long as they keep winning, Barkley will stay in blue. However, with many people projecting the Giants’ season to start falling apart at any moment, the possibility of trading Barkley away has picked up steam.

If Barkley does wind up leaving the Giants, where would he go? He’d have to go to a contender. No team in rebuild mode would be in the market to give up draft capital or players to grab a guy like Saquon. While the need for a feature back would be best when determining potentially interested parties, it’s not absolutely necessary. Saquon’s injury history could make a committee approach much like Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon in Green Bay, or Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon in Denver, a more appealing option. That said, the Giants likely wouldn’t get the haul they’re hoping for if a team just plans on using Barkley in a committee. Third, if the team buying Barkley relies on committees, there would need to be a clear role for Barkley to fill. With that, here are the five most likely landing places for Barkley.

Austin Ekeler is not being used the same way he was last season. Where last year Ekeler was almost a feature back, on the field for 65 percent of the Chargers’ offensive snaps. This year, he’s been reverted back to his 2020 role as primarily a pass-catching back with much less early-down work. Hell, Sony Michel has only three fewer rushing attempts on first down than Ekeler does this season.

With left tackle Rashawn Slater out for the season and center Corey Linsley dealing with injuries of his own, it makes sense for Chargers’ head coach Brandon Staley to use a committee approach in order to keep everybody’s legs fresh when they enter the game. Still, the Chargers don’t have that early-down, between-the-tackles back that Melvin Gordon was when he was still with the Chargers.

With the Chargers averaging just 2.6 yards per carry thus far (last in the NFL), Barkley would be an immediate upgrade, and would likely push Ekeler back even further into the pass-catching role he had in 2019. The two of them would form a formidable 1-2 punch with neither having to take on too much of the workload. Sure, Saquon can catch passes, but Ekeler is best-known for his pass-catching prowess. That doesn’t mean that Barkley wouldn’t catch passes anymore, just that receiving wouldn’t be one of his primary focuses, and that’s a huge sigh of relief for someone who played in just 15 games over the last two seasons.

The Chargers don’t have a second-round pick in the upcoming draft, but that would be the high-end of what the Giants should expect for Saquon. A third-rounder should be the starting point of negotiations, and the Chargers should be more than happy to oblige.

Not only is Alvin Kamara struggling thus far in 2022, but the jury is still out on when his suspension will kick in. It’s like a racist comment from your weird uncle at Thanksgiving dinner — you know it’s coming, you just don’t know when, and you don’t know the devastation it will leave in its wake. How do you prepare for such an emergency? You grab someone who can fill the role that Kamara could leave immediately.

You might be thinking “That’s a big if. If Kamara doesn’t get suspended this year, then the Saints are stuck with two high-end running backs and not enough space in their backfield.” I disagree. With Kamara’s struggles, the Saints could try to limit his workload, hoping that less stress on Kamara could lead to better results.

I understand that Mark Ingram is already doing a fine job filling in when Kamara needs rest, but Ingram’s 33 years old. We can’t expect him to be the next Frank Gore. As the season goes on, the wear and tear of his hefty role will eventually catch up to him, and Kamara will have to take on more of the workload than anticipated. That spells disaster for a run-focused team like New Orleans.

With Tom Brady struggling in the early goings of the 2022 season, this may be the Saints’ best chance to overthrow the Buccaneers. Adding Barkley to their backfield might be unnecessary, but it would put the Saints that much closer to dethroning Tampa Bay.

The Niners might not have the trade capital that other interested parties do, but their running back room currently consists of Jeff Wilson Jr., Jordan Mason, Marlon Mack, and Deebo Samuel. That’s someone who had a torn meniscus at the start of 2021 and serious injury history, a rookie, a has-been, and a wide receiver. Not exactly the room you want if your offensive scheme revolves around outside zone power runs and your star left tackle is out for the next four weeks.

Yes, I understand Elijah Mitchell will be coming back, but that won’t be until mid-season. The 49ers are about to head into a stretch where they play the Rams twice, the Cardinals, Chiefs, Chargers, Saints, Dolphins, and Bucs all within the next 10 weeks. Should something happen to Wilson, the Niners would be in running back limbo. Putting Samuel in the backfield would limit Jimmy Garoppolo’s options in the passing game. Would they start using Kyle Juszczyk as their lead back? No. They can’t do that.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan has worked with feature backs before. When Shanahan was still in Atlanta, he helped Devonta Freeman reach back-to-back Pro Bowls on the strength of two 1,000-yard seasons and 22 total rushing touchdowns. Barkley would give the 49ers a legitimate passing weapon in their backfield without having to put Samuel back there. Imagine all the shenanigans Shanahan could pull if he could keep Samuel on the outside all the time. It’d be difficult to stop.

The 49ers have the draft capital to make a move like this, too. They don’t have a first-rounder, but they have their second, third, and two compensatory third-round picks as well. That said, the Niners have faith in Mitchell and are so far down the committee rabbit hole that I can’t see them making a move like this in a million years. Would it make sense? Yeah. Will it happen? Almost definitely not.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire was supposed to be a dual-threat running back when he was drafted in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Now, two-plus years into his NFL career, the Chiefs have realized that he’s best suited as a pass-catching back. Through three weeks, Edwards-Helaire is averaging just over seven rushing attempts per game. Two of his three touchdowns have come through the air, and the one touchdown he has on the ground came in a game where he recorded zero rushing yards. For goodness sake, Jerick McKinnon had as many carries as CEH did in Week 3.

The Chiefs don’t necessarily need a feature back like Barkley on their roster. They won a Super Bowl without one. However, with how strong their offensive line is, the thought of having someone as talented as Barkley line up in their backfield is enough to make anyone salivate. The last time the Chiefs had a legitimate feature back, Kareem Hunt was lighting up scoreboards with nearly 1,800 total yards and 10 touchdowns. Andy Reid knows how to use talented halfbacks in his passing game, and while he no longer needs to do so with Mahomes under center instead of Alex Smith, Barkley’s presence cannot be understated.

Barkley would provide a lesser version of that big-play ability that Tyreek Hill took to South Beach. Plus, with how many capable running backs the Chiefs currently have on their roster, Barkley likely wouldn’t have to take on more work than he’s comfortable with.

The team that started it all. Boomer Esiason seems to think Barkley is headed upstate, and Buffalo does make the most sense. The most obvious reason is the relationship that Giants’ first-year GM Joe Schoen has with Brandon Beane. The two of them could likely work something out that would be favorable for both parties, and they’re likely the first people the other would go to should the market for Barkley seriously heat up.

Aside from the connections in the front office, the Bills can’t keep relying on Josh Allen to be their most consistent runner. The Bills struggle in short-yardage situations, and their lack of a true No. 1 back is likely one of the biggest reasons. As great as Allen is at carrying the pigskin, he shouldn’t be the Bills’ most explosive runner. That’s going to get him hurt one day.

Barkley’s presence would not only alleviate much of the rushing workload off Allen, but would give Allen his best backfield weapon yet. We’ve seen how the Bills can excel at using halfbacks in the passing game. Devin Singletary had nine receptions and a touchdown in last week’s loss to Miami. Imagine how explosive the offense could be if it was Barkley catching those passes instead of Singletary.

The consensus seems to be that in order for the Bills to grab Barkley, they’d have to include halfback James Cook and either a second or third-round pick. That seems like a really fair deal honestly. The Bills are in win-now mode and with Micah Hyde out for the entire season, Buffalo is probably in the market for a blockbuster trade to put them over the edge. Barkley seems the most likely candidate given how well he’d fit into the offense immediately.