The Facts: In response to a question about Barkley's future, SNY's Ralph Vacchiano replied, "There are a few variables here, but I think his short-term future is with the Giants. His long-term future, though, is probably elsewhere."

Diehards Line:Vacchiano went on to note that Barkley is heading into the last year of his contract and is due a fully guaranteed $7.2 million. That’s a lot for a cap-strapped team, but cutting him is pointless because he’d still count for that $7.2 million. Trading him, though, clears all that off the books. So Vacchiano belives that has to at least be a thought because new GM Joe Schoen has said publicly he needs to clear $40 million in salary cap space and he has limited ways to do that. The concerns with a trade are leaving Daniel Jones short of weapons in a make-or-break season and the difficulty in getting reasonable return for a running back who has been battered by injuries, was a shell of himself last season. At this point, getting a third-round pick for him seems like a lot, especially since there are a lot of teams that just don’t place a big value on his position. So expecting him to remain a Giant this year is reasonable. Expecting him to be elswhere next season is equally reasonable.