The deadline has arrived, it is too late to negotiate.
NFL franchises had until Monday, July 17 in the afternoon to find a long-term agreement with players placed under franchise tag. It is now too late to negotiate, past the deadline, the league’s collective agreement prohibits any transaction by the end of the 2023 regular season. Unsigned players therefore have no choice but to agree to the terms of the tag.
Until the last moment there was talk of the three leading running backs who received the famous seal from their club: Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard. All three will have to agree to play the upcoming campaign for a fully guaranteed contract of 10.09 million dollars, but without certainty as to their future beyond. And since the Giant and the Raider have not yet signed their tag, the threat of a strike during summer camps or even at the start of the regular season hovers.
At 26, Barkley honored his entire rookie contract plus an optional year, but New York did not take the plunge to offer him a big extension. In 2022, he ran for 1,312 yards and 10 touchdowns, plus 338 receiving yards.
Jacobs is only 25 years old, and has also just finished his rookie contract. Only Las Vegas refused to activate his optional fifth year in early 2022, which forced the club to prevent him from trying the open market to keep him by tagging. Last year he produced 12 touchdowns, 1,653 rushing yards and 400 receiving yards.
Selected in the fourth round of the 2019 draft, Pollard is also 25 years old and was to become an unrestricted free agent following the end of his rookie contract. Dallas saw in him the possibility of replacing Ezekiel Elliott cheaply in his backfield. In 2022 he recorded 1007 yards and 9 touchdowns on the ground, and 371 yards and 3 touchdowns in the air.
“That’s how it is,” Barkley tweeted just before the deadline expired.
