Should the Patriots make a big trade for a disgruntled running back?

New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley does not appear to be happy with the New York Giants over his contract situation. Should the New England Patriots swoop in and make a trade offer? The situation with Barkley is something that we've seen countless times over the years with players on the franchise tag. The Giants decided to tag Barkley this offseason and re-signed QB Daniel Jones on a big-money contract extension.

The Giants seemed to be deciding between who they wanted to tag and who they wanted to extend. Obviously they'd surely like to keep both Jones and Barkley, but they gave Daniel Jones and extension first. Now, the Giants and Barkley have until Monday to come to an agreement on a long-term deal, or Barkley won't be eligible to sign a deal until after the season.

Well, sources indicate that the former Penn State running back may hold out into week one due to his contract situation, which is definitely something. The Giants have apparently offered $13 million a year, but that doesn't appear to be good enough for Barkley, who had a bounce back 2022 season. Well, if the two sides simply cannot come to an agreement, could he be traded?

The New York Giants still have a few roster holes that they need to fill, and I don't think they expected to win nine games and a playoff game last year. Their rebuild is now a year or two ahead because of their 2022 success, but in today's NFL, teams do not need to invest a ton of resources into the RB position in order to have success.

For the Giants' sake, their best course of action might be to trade Barkley, acquire some draft capital, and use that capital to shore up their roster. The last thing a Super Bowl contending team should focus on is the RB spot. Teams have neeb able to find starting-caliber running backs in the mid and late rounds of NFL Drafts, so there really is no need to invest a ton of money into the position.

Well, could the Patriots decide they want to continue to add to their offense? Potentially adding Saquon Barkley to the offense would give the Patriots two 1,000-yard rushers, which is not something the NFL has seen in a while. It would take a ton off of the shoulders of Mac Jones, which may help his performance in the passing game. Bill Belichick would most definitely have to be willing to invest big-money into re-signing Barkley, which is not something he's known for doing.

A potential trade might make no sense to some fans, but I think the 2023 season might be the last chance for certain people in this organization, so making a big move like this might be smart.