Since the New York Giants announced that they will not be franchise tagging star running back Saquon Barkley, despite tagging him during the 2023 off season. While this does not mean that Saquon will be leaving for certain, it does mean that he is going to explore other options, which he will have plenty of.
Six teams have been linked to the 27 year-old running back after his phenomenal 2023 season where he had 1,242 yards from scrimmage and 10 touchdowns through 14 games. According to Adam Wells of Bleacher report, the Chicago Bears, Vegas raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans.
The Bears could be one of the most intriguing teams for Barkley out of this group.
Bears Add a Secondary Playmaker
Many people would say the Bears were overachievers last season with their 7-10 record. The second half of the season proved that the bears could be a formidable defense once they added a strong pass rusher in Montez Sweat and newly acquired D.J. Moore became one of the best receivers in the league when he exploded for 1,364 yards and eight touchdowns.
There were also a few negatives for Chicago. While they were one of the best rushing teams in the league based on total yards, Justin Fields was the team’s leading rusher, despite only playing in 13 games. Khalil Herbert once again failed to stay healthy and even when he was, he lost carries to D’Onta Foreman and rookie roschon Johnson.
Besides Moore, the passing offense was ineffective. Fields had a limited sample size due to missing a quarter of the season, but was still underwhelming when looking at his stats. His 16 touchdowns are inflated by two-game stretch between two of the worst defenses in the league in the Broncos and Commanders where he had a combined eight touchdowns. Fields averaged only 6.7 total air yards and no other receiver on the team besides Moore passed 750 yards.
A fair amount of blame was put on the uninspired playcalling of Luke Getsy and his inability to play to the strength of his players.
“The growth and development of the offense to me needed to be better than it was,” said Head coach Matt Eberflus in a press conference following the firing of Getsy.
With new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron calling plays, the Bears are looking for a more run-centric and play action oriented attack that looks to maximize the existing talents of the team.
Adding Saquon Barkley finally gives some stability to a rotational backfield that sorely missed having a work horse back when they lost David Montgomery. Saquon can give a massive boost to the Bears and add a level of explosion that was missing for this offense.
His ability to create explosive plays and catch the ball are two factors that have been missing for the Bears, and adding Barkley could help take pressure off Fields or Caleb Williams or whoever the Bears look to have under center.
Barkley is estimated to bring in a contract of about $12 million per year, making the Bears one of a few teams in position to take a risk on a player with the injury history of Saquon at the running back position, but looking at teams like the 49ers and Lions, getting a significant impact from a run game can shift the entire dynamic of a football game.
