The 2024 NFL Free Agency is coming up soon. Numerous pending free agents, including Kansas City Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins, among others, were slapped with the franchise tag in order for those teams to retain those players or at least get some prime draft picks in return for them in a potential trade. But at least one star player didn’t get hit with the tag and will enter free agency: New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley. He will have a plethora of potential suitors, including the likes of the Houston Texans and Green Bay Packers.
Barkley was supposed to be the next superstar running back when he entered the draft back in 2018. He rewarded the Giants’ faith in him when they selected him second overall too. Saquon Barkley ran for over 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons at a 4.83 yards per carry clip. He also caught 143 passes for 1,159 yards, adding value as a receiver.
But soon, he became the poster boy for why teams should not draft a running back high in the draft. In the third game of the 2020 season, Barkley tore his ACL, and his production has suffered since. He hasn’t had a season with at least a 4.5 yards per carry average after clearing that bar in his first two seasons. He has one season with over 1,000 yards in that span. The Giants’ situation hasn’t been very favorable to him either, but a new situation could bring out a better version of Barkley. Maybe that could happen in Houston or Green Bay.
Saquon Barkley to the Houston Texans?
The Houston Texans are in perhaps the best spot to sign Saquon Barkley if that’s a route they want to go down. Teams who have paid running backs top dollar recently have almost all come to rue that decision save for the San Francisco 49ers. They transformed into an offensive juggernaut after acquiring Christian McCaffrey from the Carolina Panthers and gave him a hefty bag.
But the 49ers had the luxury of having a starting quarterback on his rookie scale deal in Brock Purdy. The Texans are in the same boat as CJ Stroud. The offensive rookie of the year in 2023 showed he’s already in the mix as a top-ten quarterback and maybe higher. Since he has only a $8.23 million cap hit in 2024, the Texans have a ton of flexibility to work with when it comes to their cap sheet. As a result, the Texans have $70 million in cap space to spend this spring.
Within that context, it’s ok for a team to spend up for a running back. It also just happens to be a position of need for the Texans. Houston ranked 26th in the NFL in EPA per rush on offense. Devin Singletary was a fine stopgap option for them, but they could do better than him. Barkley certainly qualifies.
Green Bay Packers as potential landing spot for RB
The Green Bay Packers could be an option for Barkley as well depending on what they do with their star running back Aaron Jones. Jones is and has been one of the best running backs in the NFL since arriving in the league. But his time as a cheesehead could come to an end if the two sides can’t work out a new deal.
🧀 Is the Aaron Jones era in Green Bay OVER? 😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/YtBOWc4TNf
— CheeseheadTV 🧀 (@cheeseheadtv) March 1, 2024
The Packers have been in the market for a running back lately. They were in the mix for Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor back in August before Taylor and the Colts eventually agreed on a new extension. Jones is also getting up there in age; he will turn 30 in December. He was great in 2023 despite his age, but he isn’t getting any younger and missed a ton of time with a hamstring injury.
Barkley is the younger player and has the bigger frame at 6-0 232 pounds. He could handle a bigger workload than Jones at this stage of Jones’ career. Jones has been so good for the Packers that it seems likely an agreement will happen at some point. But if it doesn’t, Barkley could be an intriguing option for Green Bay.
