Teams can start using the franchise and transition tag on players starting today, and there will be plenty of big names to get it; Lamar Jackson probably the biggest. But the Giants are a team with multiple possibilities, both Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley.
They're expected to tag Jones, with quarterback the more important position. They've been unable, so far, to agree on a long-term deal; Jones just changed agents, suggesting things haven't been going well. Ideally, they'd probably like to work out a multi-year deal with the quarterback and tag the running back. But as things stand now it looks like Barkley is going to reach the open market. He should have plenty of suitors.
I had it in my head that Barkley was a lot better the first half of last year than the second half. I used the search tools at pro-football-reference.com to compare Barkley's performance in the first eight games compared to the last eight. I was right...but the disparity wasn't as great as I thought. While he was better the first half of the season, he was still pretty good in the second half.
The greatest difference was as a runner. Barkley ran for 246 more yards the first eight games than the last eight; that's 31 rushing yards per game, 97 versus 66.
But receiving numbers were pretty similar (receptions identical, and yards 24 per game versus 19), as were touchdowns (5 each half). And fantasy-wise, he was still one of the best backs in the league the second half of the year.
Table shows stats for all running backs who started at least half the season, sorted by PPR points per game. First-half Barkley was 3rd. Second-half Barkley was 7th. Still pretty good.
| RUNNING BACKS, FANTASY POINTS PER GAME | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | G | Run | No | Rec | TD | PPR | FF/G |
| Austin Ekeler, LAC | 17 | 915 | 107 | 722 | 18 | 378.7 | 22.3 |
| Christian McCaffrey, 2TM | 17 | 1139 | 85 | 741 | 13 | 356.7 | 21.0 |
| Saquon Barkley (1st half) | 8 | 779 | 28 | 189 | 5 | 156.8 | 19.6 |
| Josh Jacobs, L.V. | 17 | 1653 | 53 | 400 | 12 | 330.3 | 19.4 |
| Derrick Henry, Ten. | 16 | 1538 | 33 | 398 | 13 | 308.8 | 19.3 |
| Joe Mixon, Cin. | 14 | 814 | 60 | 441 | 9 | 239.5 | 17.1 |
| Nick Chubb, Cle. | 17 | 1525 | 27 | 239 | 13 | 283.4 | 16.7 |
| Saquon Barkley (2nd half) | 8 | 533 | 29 | 149 | 5 | 127.2 | 15.9 |
| James Conner, Ari. | 13 | 782 | 46 | 300 | 8 | 202.2 | 15.6 |
| Aaron Jones, G.B. | 17 | 1121 | 59 | 395 | 7 | 254.6 | 15.0 |
| Rhamondre Stevenson, N.E. | 17 | 1040 | 69 | 421 | 6 | 251.1 | 14.8 |
| Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 15 | 897 | 57 | 490 | 4 | 219.7 | 14.6 |
| Dalvin Cook, Min. | 17 | 1173 | 39 | 295 | 10 | 245.8 | 14.5 |
| Leonard Fournette, T.B. | 16 | 668 | 73 | 523 | 6 | 228.1 | 14.3 |
| Jonathan Taylor, Ind. | 11 | 861 | 28 | 143 | 4 | 152.4 | 13.9 |
| D'Andre Swift, Det. | 14 | 542 | 48 | 389 | 8 | 191.1 | 13.7 |
| Jamaal Williams, Det. | 17 | 1066 | 12 | 73 | 17 | 229.9 | 13.5 |
| Kenneth Walker, Sea. | 15 | 1050 | 27 | 165 | 9 | 202.5 | 13.5 |
| Najee Harris, Pitt. | 17 | 1034 | 41 | 229 | 10 | 227.5 | 13.4 |
| Dameon Pierce, Hou. | 13 | 939 | 30 | 165 | 5 | 170.4 | 13.1 |
| Miles Sanders, Phil. | 17 | 1269 | 20 | 78 | 11 | 220.7 | 13.0 |
| Travis Etienne, Jac. | 17 | 1125 | 35 | 316 | 5 | 211.1 | 12.4 |
| Ezekiel Elliott, Dall. | 15 | 876 | 17 | 92 | 12 | 185.8 | 12.4 |
| Cordarrelle Patterson, Atl. | 13 | 695 | 21 | 122 | 9 | 156.7 | 12.1 |
| Latavius Murray, 2TM | 13 | 760 | 27 | 132 | 6 | 154.2 | 11.9 |
| Devin Singletary, Buff. | 16 | 819 | 38 | 280 | 6 | 183.9 | 11.5 |
| David Montgomery, Chi. | 16 | 801 | 34 | 316 | 6 | 181.7 | 11.4 |
| Raheem Mostert, Mia. | 16 | 891 | 31 | 202 | 5 | 170.3 | 10.6 |
| Jeff Wilson, 2TM | 16 | 860 | 22 | 185 | 6 | 162.5 | 10.2 |
| J.K. Dobbins, Balt. | 8 | 520 | 7 | 42 | 3 | 81.2 | 10.2 |
| Tyler Allgeier, Atl. | 16 | 1035 | 16 | 139 | 4 | 159.4 | 10.0 |
| Cam Akers, LAR | 15 | 786 | 13 | 117 | 7 | 145.3 | 9.7 |
| Brian Robinson, Was. | 12 | 797 | 9 | 60 | 3 | 112.7 | 9.4 |
| Rachaad White, T.B. | 17 | 481 | 50 | 290 | 3 | 145.1 | 8.5 |
| Damien Harris, N.E. | 11 | 462 | 17 | 97 | 3 | 90.9 | 8.3 |
| Isiah Pacheco, K.C. | 17 | 830 | 13 | 130 | 5 | 139.0 | 8.2 |
| Michael Carter, NYJ | 16 | 402 | 41 | 288 | 3 | 128.0 | 8.0 |
| D'Onta Foreman, Car. | 17 | 914 | 5 | 26 | 5 | 131.0 | 7.7 |
There's still time for New York to agree on a multi-year deal with Jones; the deadline to use the tag is March 7. They could also, perhaps, work out a multi-year deal with Barkley before the start of free agency. If not, and he reached the open market, there will definitely be teams interested in him.
--Andy Richardson