Colin Cowherd warns Saquon Barkley "sitting out" could hurt his NFL future

Saquon Barkley entered the 2023 NFL offseason seeking a long-term contract extension with the New York Giants after his previous deal expired. The two sides failed to come to an agreement by the deadline, instead resulting in the team placing its franchise tag on its superstar running back. Barkley has admitted being extremely frustrated by this situation.

The star back has even threatened to sit out the 2023 NFL season after feeling a bit disprespected by the team he's spent his entire impressive career with so far. He's also reportedly planning on skipping at least the beginnging of Giants' training camp.

While Saquon Barkley apparently believes sitting out the 2023 season is a realistic option, analyst Colin Cowherd recently advised against it. The controversial sports media personality discussed the situation during a recent episode of The Herd.

Here's what Cowherd had to say:

"If he has a great season, I can assure you there'll be a market somewhere for him. If he decides to be stubborn, sit out, it'll disappear. Nobody's gonna want a guy who sat out when he was healthy. Wasn't a team guy.

"I mean, you got things working against you as a running back, multiple things. Analytics, data, health. You do not want to add another thing working against you. But there are so many things lined up against the running back from the perspective of a general manager. Don't add another. Go play and create a market."

Saquon Barkley could potentially be the first running back since Le'Veon Bell to sit out a season while holding out for a better contract. Things didn't exactly work out for Bell's career in the long run, so Colin Cowherd may have a great point. His production significantly decreased after joining the New York Jets, following his full-season sit-out with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2018.

The best bet for Barkley may indeed be just to play out the franchise tag this year and increase his value for a potentially better contract for the 2024 NFL season.

How much will Saquon Barkley potentially make this year on the franchise tag?

Saquon Barkley

If Saquon Barkley shows up for the 2023 NFL season with the New York Giants, he will be set to earn $10.091 million as per the designated franchise tag amount for running backs. Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard also received franchise tags from the Las Vegas Raiders and Dallas Cowboys, respectively. While Pollard already signed his tender, Jacobs and Barkley currently remain unsigned.