It seems the star RB might not be staying in the Big Apple in 2024.

Saquon Barkley’s future in New York is once again up in the air. The Pro Bowl running back is slated to become a free agent this spring, which comes a year after the team placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on him last March. Barkley and the Giants went back and forth in contract negotiations, but he ultimately settled on a renegotiated tag for the 2023 season. Now, with 2024 free agency around the corner, New York is unlikely to use the tag on Barkley again, per the New York Post.

That could spell the end of Barkley’s tenure with the Giants, the team that selected him with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. The 27-year-old had previously noted that he wanted to play his entire career with the Giants, but more recently has been open to possibly moving on to a new organization.

“I mean it never crossed my mind until last year after I got tagged,” Barkley told Complex.com when asked if he could see himself playing for a different team. “Up until that moment, I really believe that I was gonna finish my career as a New York Giant. You know, that was a goal of mine. And that’s still in play. I have so much respect for the Mara family and the Tisch family and everyone in the Giants organization.

“They know that but once you get to this point, you go to your contract negotiation and you go through the tag process, you realize how much of a business it is. And I remember vets always telling me this and you know I believed them, but you don’t really know something until you go through it. So could I see myself in another uniform? Yeah, it’s possible.”

Tough choices are in store for the 2023 division runner-up.

The 2024 NFL offseason is underway for Philadelphia, and after a 32-9 wild card loss to Tampa Bay, the focus will shift to reshaping the roster after adding two new coordinators on both sides of the ball.

The Birds are set to have 20 pending free agents, and with another likely retool schedule on defense, the organization could conjure up a scheme for more flexibility.

With urgent moves set to be made, we’re looking at the six most challenging decisions for Howie Roseman this spring.

Secondary changes

According to Over the Cap, cutting James Bradberry outright would cost the Eagles $10.9 million in cap space while adding another $15.2 million in dead cap space.

Philadelphia’s pass defense dropped to 31st in the league in 2023, and new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio could choose to roll with the young guys at cornerback.

According to Pro Football Focus, after being named a second-team All-Pro in 2022, Bradberry allowed 56 receptions for 689 yards and nine touchdowns.

Philadelphia saves no money with this move, but it restarts the position.

Invest assets at linebacker position

During his end-of-the-season press conference, Roseman talked about the young talent on the roster but seemed evasive when discussing the linebacker position.

The Eagles folded down the stretch, and almost every team in the conference championship game and Super Bowl matchup had elite linebacker play.

Roseman says he “believes in Nakobe Dean,” but will a competitive GM finally go outside his comfort zone and invest the proper assets or draft capital to land a game changer at the position?

Coach Joe Whitt Jr. looks forward to working with Washington’s star defensive linemen.

New Washington Commanders’ defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. believes that the team has the start of a great defense in defensive tackles Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne.

While some fans might be skeptical regarding the talent on defense after trading away defensive ends Montez Sweat and Chase Young, the team’s chief defensive mind likes what he has in the trenches.

“Everything starts up front,” Whitt Jr. said. “I’m a backend guy, but when you see me at practice, I’m gonna be; even when I was the cornerback coach in Green Bay or Louisville, it doesn’t matter. I’m always going to the big guys. It starts up front. I’m a believer of that, and that’s where we’re going. I’m glad we have those guys because that’s where it all starts.”

Chemistry is the key to any successful team, and it seems as though Washington will have that between both the defensive coaching and the players themselves. Allen and Payne have played together since 2015 when both were at Alabama. Since getting drafted to the Commanders in the first round of the 2017 and 2018 drafts, both made at least one Pro Bowl team.

If Whitt Jr. can form a good relationship with the former Bama stars and get the defense to buy into his scheme, then perhaps happier days will be ahead for Allen, who voiced frustrations about being “tired” of the team’s struggles since getting drafted there.