Giants add running back James Robinson on a one-year deal as Saquon Barkley remains unsigned… with unvaccinated wide receiver Cole Beasley also joins the team

With Saquon Barkley still unsigned by the Giants, New York added some depth to its running back room on Friday with the signing of James Robinson.

Robinson, 24, is just two seasons removed from a 1,070-yard, seven-touchdown rookie campaign with the Jaguars, but has been unable to return to those heights since tearing his Achilles in December 2021.

Nonetheless, the former Illinois State back could begin the season as the Giants’ starter if the team’s stalemate with Barkley drags on.

Barkley and New York failed to agree to an extension before Monday’s 4pm deadline, meaning he would have to play the 2023 season on the franchise tag – a one-year, $10.1million deal.

‘It is what it is,’ Barkley wrote on Twitter after the sides failed to reach an agreement.

James Robinson began his career with the Jaguars before spending time with the Jets last year

Saquon Barkley has not yet signed his franchise tag with the New York Giants

According to the New York Post, the Giants’ final three-year offer to the running back was $11 million per year, with between $22 million and $23 million in guarantees.

Those numbers were reportedly extremely close to what Barkley was seeking – just $1million to $2million more on both fronts.

The Penn State product discussed his ‘leverage’ on an episode of the ‘Money Matters’ podcast – recorded before the extension deadline – as he admitted he could sit out.

‘My leverage is I could say, ‘F*** you’ to the Giants, I could say, ‘f*** you to my teammates,’ Barkley said. 

‘And be like, ‘You want me to show you my worth? You want me to show you how valuable I am to the team? I won’t show up. I won’t play a down.’ And that’s a play I could use.

Barkley bounced back for 1,312 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns last year, though his previous injury problems likely gave the Giants pause in negotiations.

Meanwhile, Big Blue has added another piece to its offense alongside Robinson, as it also announced the signing of slot receiver Cole Beasley.

34-year-old Cole Beasley has put together a solid NFL career as a shifty slot receiver

An 11-year veteran who’s played for the Cowboys, Bills and Bucs, Beasley was fined by the NFL in August 2021 for violating the league’s COVID masking policy, and refused to get the vaccine.

‘I may die of covid, but I’d rather die actually living…. [I’ll] take my chances with Covid and build up my immunity that way,’ he wrote on Twitter in June of that year. ‘Eat better. Drink water. Exercise and do what I think is necessary to be a healthy individual

He continued the following month, ‘I’m not anti or pro vax. I’m pro choice.’

Beasley had just 35 receiving yards last year, across four games with the Bills and Bucs.