Cowboys legend Troy Aikman dishes thoughts on Saquon Barkley’s battle in NFL running back saga

The current running back market situation is creating a lot of headlines. With Saquon Barkley and other backs voicing their displeasure, NFL Hall of Famer Troy Aikman is the latest to give his thoughts on it.

With several backs in Josh Jacobs, Ezekiel Elliott, Barkley, Leonard Fournette, and Kareem Hunt all having a franchise tag placed in front of them or without a job, the running back market has fallen off a cliff.

With no team wanting to pay market value for the running back position, Aikman looks at Barkley's situation in New York as one that still sees respect from both sides.

Aikman said on the I Am Athlete podcast:

“I think those organizations you know, take Saquon Barkley for instance. You know, he's definitely respected within the organization.

I just think that they're reluctant to do these big contracts and even Saquon has come out and said he's not trying to re-establish the market.

He just wants to be paid what he thinks is fair, I think his approach has been really, really good. And I'm a big fan of his. So I don't think it's a lack of respect.

"You're looking at a certain number of dollars that you're able to spend and quarterbacks, of course, the franchise quarterback has taken up a big part of that. I think it's just the economics of the league right now at least in the salary cap and how they're going to allocate those dollars.”

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Will Saquon Barkley play for the Giants in 2023?

New York Giants v Minnesota Vikings

With a long-term deal with the Giants not reached before the deadline, many think Barkley will sit out the 2023 season as he pushes to be paid fairly for his services.

Some think, given how much Saquon Barkley loves the Giants organization, he won't do that to his teammates. However, even he said himself he isn't sure if he could do that, but stated: "he might have to."

Given how much Giants quarterback Daniel Jones relies on the talents of Barkley and importance of the running back ilto the New York offense, not having him playing all season would be disastrous.

Many still think Barkley will suit up for the Giants in Week 1, but that is far from a certainty. Time will tell if this running back market devaluation will get sorted out.