NFL Breaking News: Saquon Barkley Signs Franchise Tag & Reports To Giants Training Camp
Breaking news in the NFL this morning with Ian Rapoport reporting that Giants running back Saquon Barkley has signed the franchise tag and will report to training camp. The deal is worth $11 million dollars with incentives and includes a clause that will prevent Barkley from receiving the tag next season. When it comes to fantasy football ADP, fantasy football player rankings and fantasy football projections it will be interesting to see how much movement there is on the Giants star running back as many did not expect him to hold out and miss games this season but the security knowing he is signed should give fantasy football managers a piece of mind. Let's dive into the expectation for Barkley heading into the 2023 fantasy football season.
Saquon Barkley Fantasy Football ADP
When it comes to fantasy football ADP we see Barkley currently coming off the board in the second round with a consensus ADP of 15.45. He is currently the RB6 being drafted with the likes of Christian McCaffrey, Austin Ekeler, Bijan Robinson, Jonathan Taylor and Nick Chubb all going ahead of him at the moment. With the the news that he has signed it would not surprise me to see him begin to climb back up the board given his overall production upside in the running and passing game. Last season, in half-point PPR leagues we saw Barkley finish as the RB5 in points per game while sitting out Week 18 as the Giants had a playoff spot locked up. While wide receivers are pushing most running backs down the draft boards this season, I'd expect to see Barkley creep his way towards the end of the first round in most drafts following this news.
Saquon Barkley Fantasy Football Projections
2022 finally saw a healthy season from Barkley who hadn't played more than 13 games since his rookie campaign. He finished last year with 295 carries for 1,312 yards and 10 touchdowns while adding 57 receptions on 76 targets for 338 yards in his first year with Brian Daboll as the head coach. Right now, Fantasy Alarm projections have Barkley paced out for 309 rushing attempts, 1,327 yards and 12.8 rushing touchdowns while adding 57 receptions for 331 yards and 2.6 scores. I personally think the receiving stats are a bit on the low-end, as Daniel Jones certainly likes to throw to his star running back and we've seen Barkley's receiving ceiling when he finished with 720 yards and 91 catches during his rookie year.
Saquon Barkley Betting Odds and Rushing Props
Over on DraftKings Sportsbook the line is set at 1,050.5 rushing yards for Barkley at -110. With a healthy season this number feels like an easy over as it would require Barkley to average just 61.8 yards per game on the season. As a reminder, Barkley averaged 82 rushing yards per game last year on his way to 1,312 rushing yards over 16 games.
Over on BetMGM you can find odds for NFL Offensive Player of the Year where Barkley is currently set at +3000 to win the award. Offensive Player of the Year is an award that most running backs or wide receivers contend for while QB's generally take home the league MVP honors so betting Barkley at +3000 is a pretty solid investment as a breakout season by the Giants in year-two under Brian Daboll could be due to the fact that Barkley breaks the bank as he looks to get paid next offseason.
New York Giants Super Bowl Odds & Win Total Props
When it comes to the New York Giants, the signing of Barkley doesn't really move their odds all that much. Below are the available lines on the Giants to win the Super Bowl, Conference, Division and win totals from DraftKings Sportsbook:
- Win Total: 7.5 Over (+100) / Under (-120)
- To Win NFC East: +850
- To Win NFC Conference: +2500
- To Win the Super Bowl: +6500