Sunday morning brought a report that the Giants and running back Saquon Barkley have decided to table contract extension talks until after the season after failing to come to an agreement on a deal during the team’s bye week.
After the Giants’ 24-16 win over the Texans, Barkley confirmed that further conversations will be on hold and that his mind will only be on football for the rest of the season.
“We got into a little bit of conversation,” Barkley said, via a transcript from the team. “At the end of the day, I put that in the past. That was the bye week. Obviously, we weren’t able to come to an agreement during the bye week and my mindset is just focus on the rest of the season. Next week going against Detroit and knowing when that opportunity comes up again, focus on it then.”
Barkley’s focus served him well on Sunday. He ran 35 times for 152 yards and a touchdown in the win.
Barkley said that his goal is to be a member of the Giants for his entire career and the talks about making that happen will pick up again once the Giants stop playing. Sunday’s win moved them to 7-2, so that run looks likely to last into the playoffs for the first time in Barkley’s career.