It is what he should do. Barkley said once, and famously, that he wanted to be a “Giant for Life.” He can’t possibly still think that’s the best thing for his football life. Great Giants rarely leave on their own, not in their prime. He should.

There is still a big chance he ends up back with the Giants. Maybe he and Jones can still team up and play the Giants back into the playoffs, something they did the season before last. It’s just not the way to bet. For now, in the moment, Barkley is the story because the Giants declined putting a franchise tag on him. There’s still the window for him to work out a deal and stay, for him and for them. He should want to go, and be a star running back with a star quarterback, or he’s never going to win a Super Bowl.

Jim Brown, the best running back of them all, won one NFL title, with the ’64 Browns. Walter Payton won one, with the best damn defense anybody had ever seen. Barry Sanders never won. Eric Dickerson never won.

Emmitt Smith was great on the greatest Cowboys team of them all. But he had Troy Aikman. And Michael Irvin. Terrell Davis, also in the Hall of Fame, had himself a night once in Super Bowl XXXII, when the Broncos beat the Packers. He still had John Elway on his side. A lot of bad things have happened to Barkley in Jersey. The fact remains that the Giants are 30 games under .500 since he got with them. Running backs never make all the difference, they just can’t. And don’t. It’s why you don’t take them with the second pick even if they do turn out to be great.

There is nothing fair about what has happened to Barkley here since Gettleman decided to take a running back with the second overall pick, the way the Jets once took another Penn State back, Blair Thomas, back in 1990 (Blair was the Zach Wilson of running backs, then).

But then you better believe Barkley became Offensive Rookie of the Year, with over 2,000 total yards. Even after he hurt his knee, he came back to be the best player on the Giants team that not only made it back to the postseason, but won a playoff game on the road. Without question, he was the best player on that ’22 team. Then Jones became the Gettleman All-Star who got paid. Barkley did not. He certainly must dream about being the kind of centerpiece of a real team the way Christian McCaffrey, son of an old Giant, is with the 49ers. Right now, the Giants aren’t close to being that team. It’s why he might be gone now and Jones might be gone after the season if he doesn’t stay on the field and produce. At which point Giant fans will be talking about Gettleman, not Barkley, not Jones, being the worst pick the Giants have made lately.

Of course, it wasn’t supposed to end up like this, not after the Giants did win that playoff game against the Vikings, the week before they got treated like the junior varsity by an Eagles team on its way to the Super Bowl. Barkley had once again gained over 1,300 rushing yards. He had caught 57 passes. Jones? Even after a season when he’d thrown only 15 touchdown passes in 16 starts, played the game of his life against the Vikings. It turned out to be the first $80 million performance — so far — in all of Giants’ history.

Again and again: Saquon Barkley, at his best, has been a great Giant. He has carried himself like one. He has had the same three head coaches that Jones has had: Pat Shurmur, Joe Judge (another sparkling pick by Gettleman), now Brian Daboll. He sure does have to look across the country, and at the way McCaffrey is used by Kyle Shanahan, and imagine the possibilities of being featured like that, in football circumstances like those. They’re just not the circumstances in which he currently finds himself at MetLife Stadium.

March 6, 2024: Not it!

He only just turned 27. He has football miles on him, for sure, because all star running backs do, 1,200 carries so far in his career, nearly 300 receptions. He has come all the way back from ACL reconstruction surgery on his right knee back in 2020. Even last season, in a mess of a season for the Giants, he nearly got back to 1,000 rushing yards despite missing three games.

“[Barkley] is a guy we’d like to have back,” Giants general manager Joe Schoen said before the team made the determination not to franchise Barkley was officially made.

There is absolutely a chance, and a good one, that Barkley could still come back. He may be about to find out that what the Giants paid him last season — about $11 million, all-in — might not be far off from the best deal he can make for himself. He has a business decision to make. So, too, do the Giants in a quarterback world, even though they’ve got quarterback problems, too.

Barkley really has been a great Giant. Great Giants don’t leave. He should. It might not be the best thing for them. But if he can find a quarterback, it is the best thing for him.

GM Joe Schoen also did not tag free safety Xavier McKinney, who wants to stay in New York but told the Daily News that he didn’t want to be tagged. Now he has more time to negotiate an extension and the opportunity to hit the open market if he does not.

Barkley, 27, will be free to gauge his value on the open market for the first time in his career after six seasons with the franchise. The free agent negotiating window opens next Monday prior to the start of the new league year two days later, when deals can become official.

And while it’s still possible Barkley could return to the Giants after testing the waters, it’s more likely that he will be playing somewhere else in 2024.

Sources view the Baltimore Ravens, Las Vegas Raiders, Chicago Bears, New England Patriots, Houston Texans and Philadelphia Eagles as some primary potential suitors who have the resources, need and interest to possibly sign Barkley.

There is always the chance that Barkley won’t find the value he is seeking on the open market due to an impressive and deep free agent running back class headed by the Titans’ Derrick Henry, the Chargers’ Austin Ekeler, Barkley and the Raiders’ Josh Jacobs.

But numerous evaluators in Indianapolis at last week’s NFL Combine voiced the opinion that they consider Barkley to be a dynamic back. Some would love to see a team use him in the Christian McCaffrey mold, believing Barkley could serve in the same role.

So imagine Barkley lined up behind two-time MVP Lamar Jackson in Charm City, or paired with likely No. 1 overall QB pick Caleb Williams and top Bears receiver D.J. Moore in the Windy City.

Neither is far-fetched now.

Barkley loves New York and the Giants, but he wants to win and be compensated and deployed as a top offensive weapon. He understandably wants to be used more as a receiver in particular, a talent he believes was untapped recently in New York.

Schoen, meanwhile, is reticent to commit major money to a running back and is entering a pivotal third year in this regime’s build. They need to show progress.

The GM also is staring at a deep free agent RB market and an NFL Draft with some good value in the middle rounds.

Schoen mentioned Ekeler and two of his former Buffalo Bills draft picks as attractive available RBs: the Texans’ Devin Singletary and the Colts’ Zack Moss.

Oregon’s Bucky Irving and USC’s MarShawn Lloyd, meanwhile, could be good fits as middle-round picks in April. The Giants like Lloyd, and Irving is a tantalizing player.

Optically, Schoen also benefits from letting Barkley hit the market this spring even if he does end up staying in New York.

Last year’s negotiations got ugly. Barkley vented publicly that he wasn’t pleased with leaks and inaccurate reports about contract offers that he said didn’t come from him.

He switched agents from Roc Nation to CAA after receiving some bad advice to not accept one of Schoen’s earlier contract offers.

And edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux said early this offseason he thought Barkley should have been paid before quarterback Daniel Jones, after the QB landed a four-year, $160 million extension last spring but Barkley played on a one-year tag.

Schoen’s reluctance to use the tag on any player this year is probably a reaction in part to all the off-field anguish it caused the Giants and their locker room last summer. It wasn’t good for business.

“I’m not the one for tags,” McKinney said last week on the Talkin’ Ball with Pat Leonard podcast on the Bleav Network. “I don’t really get into it because, mentally, I believe in my worth and have been able to be a highly productive player, to put up really good numbers, to show that I am a top safety in this league. And I’ve been able to show that I am worth every penny of whatever I’ll get paid.

“But I’m not really into the whole tags, franchise tags, transition,” he added. “I don’t really know much about the transition tag anyways. But I don’t even wanna speak on it much, because I’m not even gonna put my energy [into] or entertain those things.”

McKinney, a two-time captain, finished 2023 as Pro Football Focus’ No. 1 safety in both coverage and tackling (No. 3 in tackling behind two part-timers who didn’t truly qualify) and as PFF’s No. 4 safety overall.

He wants to be paid as a top-5 safety, which would put him at or near the $16-19 million per year range. The Green Bay Packers are one of the teams that sources believe would pursue him if the Giants’ former 2020 second-round pick hits the market.

Barkley played last season on a revised franchise tag, rushing for 962 yards on 3.9 yards per carry and scoring 10 total touchdowns in 14 games. A second consecutive franchise tag would have put Barkley on a $12.1 million salary for 2024, a 20% raise from last year’s $10.1 million.

If this is the end of his Giants tenure, Barkley will leave the team that drafted him second overall in 2018 having recorded 5,211 rushing yards, 4.3 yards per carry, 2,100 receiving yards and 47 total touchdowns over six seasons.

Barkley burst onto the scene as a do-it-all weapon out of Penn State six years ago, leading the NFL with 2,028 scrimmage yards while scoring 15 touchdowns en route to Offensive Rookie of the Year and Pro Bowl honors in 2018.

Injuries repeatedly plagued the Bronx-born Barkley, however, including in 2020 when he suffered a season-ending ACL tear in the second game of the season in Chicago.

Barkley missed at least three games in four of his six seasons, including last year when a sprained ankle kept him out of Weeks 3 through 5.

He was the offensive catalyst of the Giants’ 2022 playoff berth as a Wild Card team, the franchise’s lone trip to the postseason since 2016. That included two touchdowns in a road playoff win over the Minnesota Vikings before the Giants were blown out by the Eagles in the divisional round.

That may end up being the furthest Barkley ever goes with the Giants. And Schoen would have to replace his top weapon quickly to field a competent offense in 2024.

— With Peter Sblendorio

One of the best players and leaders on an NFC East rival that has won 13 of its last 16 meetings with the Giants has hung up his cleats.

Dexter Lawrence and New York’s defensive linemen have reason to smile.

The top question facing the Giants heading into Tuesday, though, is about their two most important internal free agents: running back Saquon Barkley and free safety Xavier McKinney.

Tuesday at 4 p.m. is the NFL’s deadline for teams to place either the franchise or transition tag on a player. Each team is allowed to use only one tag.

Giants GM Joe Schoen has said he’d rather not use the tag annually, but he also has it at his disposal to maintain leverage or retain a player he can’t (or won’t) otherwise re-sign.

Schoen also said last week that it’s still a possibility he could use the franchise tag on Barkley for the second straight year.

“I wouldn’t say the franchise tag’s off the table,” he said at the NFL Combine.

That’s partially because Barkley’s $12.1 million salary for 2024 if he gets franchise tagged is close to the market-value $11.9 million amount for RBs on their first tag this spring.

Schoen said the Giants were going to “recalibrate” their offseason plans after the NFL announced its salary cap was increasing to $255.4 million, as well. So it’s possible he would stretch a bit more than preferred.

It still doesn’t feel like Barkley will get tagged on Tuesday, though.

He wants to test his value on the open market after last year’s frustrating negotiation and tag. Kayvon Thibodeaux said recently that Barkley deserved to get paid by the Giants before Daniel Jones.

And it still seems more likely that Barkley will sign elsewhere rather than re-upping in New York.

He wants to be used more as a receiver and to win. Schoen only wants to pay a running back so much. And the Giants have been studying this running back draft closely.

Schoen consistently has noted the depth of the RB free agent market, too, including two of his former Bills picks, the Texans’ Devin Singletary and the Colts’ Zack Moss.

McKinney, meanwhile, told the Daily News last week that he does not want to be tagged.

He wants to stay in New York, but on a long-term deal that pays him like a top-five safety.

“I’m not the one for tags,” McKinney said on the Talkin’ Ball with Pat Leonard podcast. “I don’t really get into it because, mentally, I believe in my worth and have been able to be a highly productive player, to put up really good numbers, to show that I am a top safety in this league. And I’ve been able to show that I am worth every penny of whatever I’ll get paid.”

“But I’m not really into the whole tags, franchise tags, transition,” he added. “I don’t really know much about the transition tag anyways. But I don’t even wanna speak on it much, because I’m not even gonna put my energy [into] or entertain those things.”

Neither tag feels like it would bring a satisfactory resolution, either.

The franchise tag at $17.1 million would throw too large a number on the Giants’ 2024 salary cap, when a multi-year deal would allow them to spread some of the cost into the future.

The transition tag at $13.8 million would allow McKinney to negotiate with other teams and give the Giants a chance to match. But that would likely suppress his market, and that financial amount would put him way below the top 5 range at safety, which spans from $16-19 million.

Frankly, it feels like the Giants should be able to get something done long-term with McKinney in a reasonable but lucrative middle ground. And maybe they’ll keep negotiating with Barkley and take their chances on what he finds available on the open market.

Schoen has the tag at his disposal if he wishes, though. So now it’s time to find out if he’ll use it, one week out from the start of the NFL’s free agent tampering period on March 11.

NFL teams aren’t ignoring his extensive injury history while gauging the draft capital they’d be willing to invest in the Washington Huskies quarterback.

He had multiple season-ending injuries while playing at Indiana prior to transferring, including tearing his right ACL twice. That scares plenty of evaluators in the league.

And yet, the left-handed Maxwell Award winner stood out as the best thrower of the football Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium, just as he had at the Senior Bowl, after January’s national title game appearance.

And multiple scouts view him as one of this draft’s more capable quarterbacks to step in and play early – definitely the most prepared of the second cluster of QBs that his injury flags have dropped him into, for now.

“That’s a big reason why I came back for this last season: to have another fully healthy season and show that I’m ready to compete and can do it at the next level,” Penix, 23, said this week. “At this point, I can’t control if there [are] still questions about the injury history.”

His buildup to the NFL Draft, therefore, will be fascinating. He’s a top 10 talent whose resume intimidates teams in the first round, but he can clearly help someone in 2024.

Would the Seattle Seahawks add him in-state to Geno Smith’s QB room after trading back a bit from No. 16 to acquire more picks?

Would the Miami Dolphins, who own picks No. 21 and 55 in the top two rounds, go all-in on lefties and make Penix Tua Tagovailoa’s backup?

Would the New England Patriots, who hold pick No. 34 near the top of the second round, take a flier on Penix if they somehow don’t take a quarterback at No. 3 overall?

“I feel like what I bring to the table, I’ll be able to elevate everybody around me,” Penix said. “And I feel like I’ll definitely be able to find ways to win no matter where I go.”

BUCK UP

Oregon running back Bucky Irving stood out as a smooth and intriguing prospect during Saturday’s on-field drills. Giants running backs coach Joel Thomas was helping to run the RB workout, too, standing close on the sideline to observe the backs run out-routes, catch the ball and turn upfield.

Receiving ability matters to the Giants as they watch these backs. They’re clearly in the market at the position. And an RB pick will matter even more if they don’t re-sign Saquon Barkley.

Irving made 56 catches for the Ducks last season, rushed for 1,180 yards and scored 13 total TDs. It’s not difficult to envision Irving being deployed somewhat like the Saints’ Alvin Kamara, a former third round pick himself, with the right coach and offense.

The Giants hold picks No. 70, 108 and 140 in the third, fourth and fifth rounds, respectively. USC’s MarShawn Lloyd remains a player to watch for them, too. And Michigan’s Blake Corum had a good workout, too.

But Irving is a fun player to watch and projects as a real weapon in the NFL. Keep an eye on him wherever he lands.

SOME OTHER STANDOUTS

Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy stole the show by running an NFL Combine record 4.21 40-yard dash, breaking John Ross’ previous mark of 4.22. But Georgia wide receiver Ladd McConkey had one of the best Saturdays of any prospect, putting on a route-running show while also running a 4.39 40-yard dash. McConkey looks like the kind of polished player who could have a long, productive career. Texas receiver Adonai Mitchell and Florida State receiver Keon Coleman also seemed to help themselves while catching passes from the QBs … Tennessee’s Joe Milton III and South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler both threw the ball extremely well. Giants QB coach Shea Tierney helped run the quarterback workouts. That included Tierney putting Milton through his early throws 1-on-1, while Broncos QB coach Davis Webb worked with Oregon’s Bo Nix. Milton threw one of his deep passes 70 yards in the air, wowing the crowd at Lucas Oil Stadium. Both Milton and Rattler had a strong week at the Senior Bowl (Rattler was named Senior Bowl MVP). Now they’ve backed it up with a strong combine. They have definitely improved their draft stock … Washington slot receiver Jalen McMillan glided and profiled as an interesting mid-round addition for a team looking for some size and reliability inside … Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy started unevenly but delivered his best throws when he could open his body and flick it outside to his right and deep downfield.

Detroit Lions left guard Jonah Jackson and Minnesota Vikings pass rusher Danielle Hunter, in particular, are among the top-tier free agents at those positions that the Giants like, sources at the NFL Combine say.

Versatile Patriots tackle/guard Michael Onwenu, who played for new Giants O-line coach Carmen Bricillo in New England, is another attractive O-line possibility if he hits free agency.

Liking a player and winning his services on a competitive open market are two different things, obviously. The Carolina Panthers, Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers are among the other teams big-game hunting at guard, for example.

The Steelers also had a lot of love at January’s Senior Bowl for Illinois guard Isaiah Adams, a player the Giants spent a ton of time with in Mobile, Ala.

Schoen has a major need at a minimum three positions on his starting five, however, plus a lack of depth.

He needs a starting left and right guard. He needs to fix or find his starting right tackle. He needs a reliable, backup swing tackle. And he needs better reserves.

So he has to land at least one big fish in free agency and add more O-line talent in the draft, and he knows it.

“We need to improve as a starting five, and we need to improve the depth,” Schoen said here this week. “And that’ll be a priority this offseason.”

Guard has emerged as the likely financial priority over the tackle position in part because, sources say, the Giants want to give Evan Neal one more run at playing right tackle before going to the last resort of kicking him inside to guard.

So hypothetically, Schoen could spend on a left guard like Jackson, 27, and also sign Raiders veteran tackle Jermaine Eluemunor. Then Schoen could attack right guard and supplement his depth in the draft. Jackson excels pulling out into space in the run game.

Eluemunor, 29, played for Bricillo in both New England and Las Vegas. He could compete with Neal and either win the starting right tackle job outright or serve as a steady swing tackle behind Andrew Thomas and Neal.

Conversely, landing the versatile Onwenu, 26, instead of Jackson, could give Schoen and Brian Daboll other intriguing options in building their puzzle in front of quarterback Daniel Jones.

Edge rusher, meanwhile, is also a priority opposite Kayvon Thibodeaux in Shane Bowen’s new defensive scheme.

Schoen said this week that “the upfield pass rush is going to be more of a premium” in the Giants’ 2024 defense. That means a stronger four-man pass rush while playing more zone on the back end.

Titans veteran defensive end Denico Autry would be a nice addition, given his production (11.5 sacks last season) and familiarity with the scheme. But making a big splash for Hunter to headline the D-line’s restoration is a tantalizing possibility.

He posted 16.5 sacks last season in Minnesota, and the Vikings can’t franchise tag him, unlike the Jaguars’ Josh Allen and the Panthers’ Brian Burns.

Azeez Ojulari is still a pass rusher that the Giants are trying to keep healthy to take advantage of his athleticism and edge explosiveness. But they need to add a proven player who can immediately upgrade that side to bookend Dexter Lawrence in the middle.

Safety Xavier McKinney and running back Saquon Barkley, of course, represent the Giants’ top internal free agent priorities. And Schoen has $32.6 million in cap space, which certainly doesn’t represent unlimited resources.

But Schoen knows from experience that protecting the quarterback and sacking the quarterback are imperative. The O-line’s poor play, injuries and lack of depth crippled the team’s chances last season, in particular. And he can’t let that happen again.

The national champion revealed Friday that in his Giants meeting this week, the coaches translated one of McCarthy’s college plays into Brian Daboll’s offensive terminology to show him what it would be like to run their system.

That’s not just information gathering. That’s trying something on to see if it fits before buying.

“I really loved how I drew up a play that I could run in every situation: third down, fourth down, first and second — all that good stuff — and then the [Giants] coaches were kind of changing my verbiage and making it their own,” McCarthy said at his press conference. “It was really nice to kind of get a feel of what that offense would be like. And it was actually a lot more simple. So it was good.”

The Giants are preparing as if Jones will be their starting quarterback again in 2024 when healthy. They are locked into at least one more year of Jones due to the structure of his four-year contract that runs through 2026 anyway.

But it would be appealing to draft a talented quarterback with upside who could develop and sit and watch before eventually taking over. Think of how Jordan Love blossomed in 2023 for the Green Bay Packers after watching for three seasons and taking over the starting job in Year 4.

Drafting a quarterback No. 6 overall and keeping him on the bench in New York is difficult to do, as the Giants can attest from Jones’ 2019 rookie year. But multiple scouts here in Indianapolis view McCarthy as a skilled but unfinished product who could use some seasoning before he plays, anyway.

So would the Giants trade into the back half of the first round for a quarterback like McCarthy, or would they use one of their second-round picks on the proven winner?

Not only does that scenario seem plausible. It seems like the most likely way for the Giants to acquire a young QB in this draft, based on a host of factors both in and outside of their control.

“[I’m] a tough, gritty guy who only cares about winning at the end of the day,” McCarthy said. “Love the game of football with a burning passion, love [my] teammates. Just pretty much everything you’d want in a starting quarterback.”

Granted, McCarthy’s stock could rise, and some team could fall in love with him and draft him higher, even the Giants. That’s possible with any high-level prospect, especially the quarterbacks, some of whom will take the field to throw in front of NFL GMs and coaches here at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Giants GM Joe Schoen, however, has to improve his current roster significantly this spring to give Jones and Daboll more pieces to win in 2024. And that means reaching for a player, especially one who isn’t supposed to play this year, would be dangerous — when a wide receiver or offensive lineman would instantly help their roster for both the short and long term, ideally.

McCarthy is just one quarterback, though, in an attractive class.

North Carolina’s Drake Maye profiles as a Giant prototype, for example, with size and an arm and a pre-existing relationship with Eli Manning. If Maye slipped to No. 6, it wouldn’t be difficult to see him in Giant blue.

“Eli, big fan,” Maye said Friday. “I think Eli would probably say he’s probably seen me too much. I’ve been following him around. It was always on Zooms. I think the biggest thing is being a sponge, soaking it all in.”

“I don’t have all the answers, and I don’t know it all just being up there with Eli,” Maye added. “David Morris, I’ve trained with him down there in Alabama; he was his backup at Ole Miss. So just kind of the small world of connections and I’m just trying to soak it all up.”

LSU Heisman winner Jayden Daniels probably would be the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft if not for USC’s Caleb Williams. And the Giants are doing their homework there, too.

“It was fun. Going there and being able to talk football,” Daniels said of his Giants meeting. “They handed me the clicker and we were just talkin’ ball. It’s always fun. I love football. I’m very passionate about it. So whenever I get to talk ball, I love it. [I loved] just how energetic the coaching staff was. And getting to know me as a person: they were very excited about that.”

Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. also is a player to watch closely in the same range as McCarthy most likely, near the back half of the first round.

Despite an extensive injury history, some scouts have a ton of respect for what Penix could do in the right NFL system, early on, given his accuracy and production.

Of course, if Schoen falls in love with just one of the top QBs in this class, he would undoubtedly at least try to move up to get him.

He was there when the Buffalo Bills traded up for Josh Allen in 2018. GM Brandon Beane, who made that move, explained on Tuesday why it was worth the risk to him then.

“We got criticized a little bit for how much we gave up for Josh,” Beane recalled. “And I’m like, ‘Well, if he doesn’t work out, I’m not going to be here anyway. And if he does work out, nobody’s gonna give a s–t.’”

But the Chicago Bears, Washington Commanders and New England Patriots all feel like slam dunks to take quarterbacks with the top three selections, although it’s still early, which would box a team like the Giants out.

Given the Giants’ current needs, the setup of the draft and their aspirations to develop someone behind Jones for the future, though, using a late first-round pick or early-second on a quarterback would make sense.

And maybe that’s why they’re trying on the offense for size with McCarthy. Maybe the Wolverine would be a fit.

“He deserves every penny and he’s worth a lot, because he is truly a guy that can turn around a whole organization, a whole team, [with] his play and his leadership,” McKinney, 24, said on Wednesday’s Talkin’ Ball with Pat Leonard podcast.

Barkley and McKinney are both important, pending free agents that Giants GM Joe Schoen said the team would like to have back. And they have each other’s back entering the process.

“Saquon is a phenomenal running back. He’s a great dude,” McKinney said. “He’s a dude that deserves to be paid. I’ve been saying this for a minute: that’s somebody that I truly believe is a great running back, and I think he’s gonna go on to have a Hall of Fame career.

“But he’s done everything for the team, play-wise, leadership-wise, he’s always there,” He added. “He’s a brother of mine, a brother for a lot of us, not just a teammate.”

McKinney said he has spoken to Barkley several times and “let him know whatever he needs me to do, if there is anything I can do, to be able to help him and get him in a situation to where he can get that money, whatever I can do… I don’t know how much I can really do, but I’m always there for him because he’s always been there for me.”

Kayvon Thibodeaux recently said he believes Barkley should have gotten paid last year before quarterback Daniel Jones. McKinney said he wants everyone to get paid.

“Regardless of who’s getting paid and who’s getting paid what, I think that as players we still gotta go out there and we still got a job to do,” McKinney said. “For me, I’m always for everybody getting paid. Because at the end of the day we’re all trying to make that money to be able to change the way we live, to be able to change how our family lives and so on.

“So regardless of who gets paid, we still got a job to do,” he added. “We all have one common goal and that’s to go out there and win. That’s to go out there and win championships. That’s ultimately what we’re looking to do.”

‘X’ & WINK: ‘REALLY GOOD’ RELATIONSHIP

McKinney also revealed that he reached out to former Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale following his resignation in January and that the two have a “really good relationship.”

This flies in the face of the misperception that McKinney and Martindale couldn’t coexist after the safety vented some frustration in Week 9.

“Just to clear it up, I’ve seen so many different things about, ‘Oh he’s saying whatever about Wink Martindale’; we have a good relationship,” McKinney said. “I talked to him. We’ve talked. Obviously in any relationship with anybody, nothing is ever gonna be perfect. You’re not gonna agree with everything. Sometimes we weren’t on the same page, but we ended up getting on the same page. And I think that’s all that mattered.

“But we still have a really good relationship. I actually talked to him when he resigned,” McKinney continued. “We talked and we texted. And I told him how much I appreciated him and how much respect that I have for him, and how much he helped me out throughout the season and helped me learn and helped me grow as a person and as a player.”

So, McKinney said, “we always are gonna have a good connection regardless.”

The University of Michigan, as of early February, was closing a deal to make Martindale the national champions’ new defensive coordinator for 2024.

Former Titans defensive coordinator Shane Bowen replaced Martindale in New York.

The contract he earns this spring is important to him. So is his goal to parade through the Canyon of Heroes after bringing a fifth Super Bowl to Big Blue.

That came through clearly in McKinney’s exclusive interview with the Daily News Wednesday on the “Talkin’ Ball with Pat Leonard” podcast on the Bleav Network:

McKinney’s recent conversations with GM Joe Schoen have gone well. And in an ideal world, McKinney’s preference is to re-sign and see this through.

“I’ve always felt the love with the Giants,” McKinney, 24, said Wednesday in his first extensive comments since the season ended. “They were the team that drafted me, so I’ve been in love with them ever since. I’m one of them guys, I like staying on the same team in my career. When I went to [Ala]bama, I never thought about transferring. I’m loyal to the soil.”

“Regardless of if it’s going good or bad, I always want to be the person to stand 10 toes down throughout the storm,” he continued. “I like to fight through adversity and try to be the person or the solution to help, to figure it out, to turn things around. I never try to quit or give up or run away, because that’s just not how I’m built.”

The money will need to properly validate McKinney’s play as a top-five NFL safety, obviously. He finished 2023 as Pro Football Focus’ No. 1 safety in both coverage and tackling (No. 3 in tackling behind two part-timers who didn’t truly qualify) and PFF’s No. 4 safety overall.

The top five safeties in the league currently average between $16-19 million per season, with guarantees that span from $36-42 million in total.

But Schoen stressed on Tuesday that the Giants want to bring their free safety back and have more cap space than anticipated, due to the NFL’s soaring revenues, heading into Friday’s negotiation with agent David Mulugheta.

“I think my play and my leadership, that kind of speaks for itself,” McKinney said. “I do believe I should be paid as a top-five guy because I am that, I believe in that and the numbers speak for that. But also there are other factors that play a role into ultimately what I want to do.”

“It’s kind of like a mix of both at the end of the day,” he added. “I do really love the idea of playing and being with the same team for my entire career. That’s something that I’ve always kind of stuck with growing up at any level… But I think both things kind of speak for [themselves] as far as how I want to be paid and how I want to be respected as a leader.”

Being the leader of the Giants matters to McKinney, especially.

He said it meant a lot to him that “when I went through my ups and my downs when I had my hand injury [in 2022], they were there for me,” from co-owner John Mara to Schoen to head coach Brian Daboll.

He said his recent social media about wanting to be “appreciated” came with “no ill intent” and wasn’t about football.

“That’s just life in general, what my motto is and what I go by,” he said. “It wasn’t anything necessarily toward any person or any team or whatever it is.”

And although McKinney said he has tried to unplug from football recently, it stood out that when he was asked about potential outside suitors like the Green Bay Packers, he said: “Honestly, I haven’t really thought about playing for any other team.”

“I’m just trying to take this time to relax my body, relax my mind,” he said. “Obviously in a couple weeks, I’m gonna have to think about some stuff, even before free agency starts. But I haven’t thought about any team really.”

Given McKinney’s conviction on his value, it’s understandable that he had no interest in even considering the suggestion of a transition tag as a tool the Giants might use to retain him or match any outside free agent offers.

“I’m not the one for tags,” McKinney said. “I don’t really get into it because, mentally, I believe in my worth and have been able to be a highly productive player, to put up really good numbers, to show that I am a top safety in this league. And I’ve been able to show that I am worth every penny of whatever I’ll get paid.”

“But I’m not really into the whole tags, franchise tags, transition,” he added. “I don’t really know much about the transition tag anyways. But I don’t even wanna speak on it much, because I’m not even gonna put my energy [into] or entertain those things.”

That’s just another example of McKinney standing his ground, though, which is what he hopes to do here with the Giants when the numbers line up.

Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze goes to the Giants at No. 6 and Georgia tight end Brock Bowers lands with the Jets at No. 10 in the ESPN draft guru’s second 2024 mock, which came out Wednesday.

With three quarterbacks projected off the board, Kiper gives Daniel Jones a 6-3, 215-pound target in an effort to boost a sluggish Giants offense that averaged 15.6 points per game last season.

“Get Jones some help,” Kiper wrote. “They have too many Nos. 2 and 3 receivers. Odunze, who caught 92 passes for 1,640 yards and 13 touchdowns last season, could be their No. 1 guy.”

Kiper has long been a supporter of Jones, who appeared in only six games during an injury-plagued 2023 season that ended with an ACL tear.

The Giants haven’t had a true No. 1 wide receiver since sending Odell Beckham Jr. to the Cleveland Browns in March 2019, a few weeks before they drafted Jones. Darius Slayon led the Giants in receiving in four of the last five seasons, including in 2023, when his 770 yards marked a career high.

Kiper’s mock offers the Giants their pick of playmakers, with Marvin Harrison Jr. (whom he gave to the Arizona Cardinals at No. 4) the lone pass-catcher off the board. In Wednesday’s scenario, the Giants roll with Odunze over explosive LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers, whom Kiper mocked to Big Blue in his first draft exercise last month.

The 6-1, 188-pound Nabers hauled in 89 receptions for 1,569 yards and 14 touchdowns last season.

Kiper envisions the Jets, meanwhile, giving rehabbing quarterback Aaron Rodgers another premium target rather than bolstering their woeful offensive line.

The matchup-nightmare Bowers led Georgia in receiving in each of his three collegiate seasons, two of which ended with national championships. The 6-4, 240-pound tight end would theoretically help fortify a Jets passing attack that boasts little behind top receiver Garrett Wilson.

“Think about it: Aaron Rodgers is returning, they have a void at the position and they might jump at the opportunity to add a pass-catching tight end with rare run-after-the-catch ability,” Kiper wrote. “There’s a natural fit. And yes, New York has a bigger hole at offensive tackle, but what if it doesn’t totally love its options here? I always say — drafting strictly for need will get teams into trouble.”

Like the Giants, the Jets trotted out one of the NFL’s worst offenses in 2023, averaging 15.8 points per game during a lost season in which Rodgers played only four snaps before suffering a torn Achilles.

The Jets’ ineffective offensive line badly needs an overhaul, with guard Laken Tomlinson released this week; tackles Mekhi Becton and Duane Brown and center Connor McGovern primed for free agency; and the versatile Alijah Vera-Tucker working his way back from an Achilles tear.

Wednesday’s mock still has Penn State tackle Olu Fashanu on the board when the Jets pick, but Kiper believes Bowers is too good to pass up.

Kiper’s draft sends USC quarterback Caleb Williams to the Chicago Bears at No. 1, LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels to the Washington Commanders at No. 2 and UNC quarterback Drake Maye to the New England Patriots at No. 3.

After Harrison at No. 4, the mock gives Alabama tackle JC Latham to the Los Angeles Chargers to round out the top five.

He addressed the possibility of trading up in the NFL Draft, his free agency plans for Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney, the future of Daniel Jones, Brian Daboll, the offensive line, the Giants’ coaching dysfunction and more.

Here are some highlights:

ON BARKLEY AND THE FRANCHISE TAG

Schoen said Barkley is “a guy we’d like to have back,” and the GM will meet with Barkley’s agent this week at the Combine to “see if we can get something done with him.”

Interestingly, though, Schoen dangled the possibility that he could use the franchise tag a second straight year, even though he said that is not his preference (and despite Barkley wanting a long-term deal).

“I wouldn’t say the franchise tag’s off the table,” Schoen said.

That’s partially because Schoen said he looks primarily at the “running back market value” when determining a fair deal. And this year’s franchise tag number for RBs ($11.9 million) isn’t much lower than the $12.1 million salary Barkley would get if he were tagged a second straight year.

“So the [higher than expected] salary cap changes your philosophy and how you’re gonna attack things,” Schoen said of the NFL’s $255.4 million cap ceiling for 2024. “So that’s not off the table. And again, we don’t wanna do that. In a perfect world, we don’t wanna do that again. But we’re gonna have conversations. We’re gonna talk through it.”

“And I know he says he wants a fair deal,” Schoen added. “And I appreciate that. And ultimately we gotta do what’s best for the franchise short term and long term, and we’ll take all those things into account.”

Later, Schoen said the running back free agent market is “deep” and mentioned three players by name: the Chargers’ Austin Ekeler, the Texans’ Devin Singletary and the Colts’ Zack Moss. Singletary and Moss were both Bills draft picks when Schoen was Buffalo’s assistant GM.

ON DABOLL POSSIBLY CALLING PLAYS IN 2024

Schoen was asked if he would be OK with Daboll calling plays on offense in 2024, and he said he will let Daboll decide how he coaches the team. This reinforces the belief that Daboll will call plays on offense in 2024.

“I’m never gonna tell him what to do,” Schoen said. “That’s his world. I’ll be a sounding board. I’ll give advice. But I’m never gonna tell him what to do as a coach. So if he decided he ever wanted to do that, that’s up to him. I’m never gonna tell him one way or the other what to do on the field. That’s his world.”

Daboll is not scheduled to address the media in Indianapolis, similar to last year.

ON BELIEVING IN DANIEL JONES AT QUARTERBACK

Schoen said: “I have faith in Daniel as our starting quarterback.” And he seemed defensive when asked if winning a Super Bowl was still his barometer for the Giants’ QB position.

“Yeah, that’s the ultimate goal for everybody is to win a Super Bowl,” Schoen said. “So we wanna win a Super Bowl. It’s not one position. You gotta build a good team. You gotta have surrounding parts. There’s a lot of good quarterbacks that haven’t won Super Bowls. So you gotta have a good team.”

“It’s not just the quarterback position,” the GM continued. “I understand your question. But I think you gotta continue to build a team around the quarterback. It’s an important position, but I think you gotta build the pieces around him on both sides of the ball in all three phases.”

Schoen said Jones’ rehab continues to progress well. He’s been “throwing for about two weeks” in a stationary position. And he’s likely to be ready for training camp barring any setbacks.

But Schoen also said Jones “understands that we’re gonna need to add a quarterback.” And Schoen made it sound like he intends to bring in “a veteran quarterback through free agency,” on top of considering one in the NFL Draft.

“We’ll address the position,” he said, including Tyrod Taylor as an option. “It could be through free agency, and it doesn’t preclude us from doing it in the draft, as well.”

ON POSSIBLY TRADING UP IN THE NFL DRAFT

Schoen seemed lukewarm about trading up from pick No. 6 in April’s NFL Draft, at least early on in the spring. During an online Q&A with fans, Schoen noted that the 49ers struck out on their 2021 trade up for Trey Lance before finding Brock Purdy in the seventh round — and putting him into a favorable position with great talent around him.

“They tried to go up and get a quarterback, and now he’s with Dallas,” Schoen said.

Schoen basically said he can’t answer that question until he gets familiar with all the quarterbacks and gets through the first wave of free agency. He remembered, for example, that he and the Bills were doing a private workout with Josh Allen in March 2019 when they heard about the Jets trading up from No. 6 to 3 to eventually pick Sam Darnold.

“I think at that position, it’s a different stratosphere,” Schoen said. “You gotta get around these kids and you gotta get to know them. And until you’re able to do that, it’s hard to make those type of moves.”

“So we were still going through our process at the time in Buffalo to get around those prospects,” he added. “And then once we were comfortable, that’s when you make that type of move.”

He also said trading up to No. 3 would “be hard to do until you’re on the clock” if you didn’t know for sure what the teams at picks Nos. 1 and 2 are doing. In other words, it’s one thing to covet a player; it’s another to know he’ll be available at a certain pick.

But Schoen summarized that “this is the start” of the Giants’ process there and called it “an exciting time.” Time will tell if he pursues one of these prospects via trade anywhere from late March through draft night in late April.

OFFENSIVE LINE ‘A PRIORITY’

Schoen said this of the offensive line: “We need to improve as a starting five, and we need to improve the depth. And that’ll be a priority this offseason.” That’s improving the entire offensive line room, essentially. Good to hear.

“We’ve got to play better,” Schoen said of the line. “There were some games that we didn’t play very well. And it’s a revolving door. Five players have to be working together. That’s almost half your offense. And when you’re [working with a] revolving door and [there’s a] lack of communication, that’ll show up when you’re playing some of those good teams that we played early on in the season.”

But obviously, several Schoen personnel moves up front also have backfired in big ways. The GM said of Evan Neal, though: “[We] still have confidence in him at right tackle.” So that will be interesting to watch.

ON MCKINNEY’S FREE AGENCY

Schoen said the Giants would like to have McKinney back. They haven’t started official negotiations, only had some conversations with McKinney. And they “have a meeting planned” with his agent, David Mulugheta, for when he arrives in Indianapolis on Friday.

“Xavier is another player that we’d like to have back,” the GM said. “He’s 24 years old. He was a captain, played 100% of the snaps, and we think a lot of ‘X.’ And [we] look forward to getting [into] the negotiation period here later this week.”

Schoen did say that it was a “pleasant surprise” to see the NFL’s salary cap come in at $255.4 million, because the Giants were being “conservative” and “operating in the $241-243 [million] range” prior to getting that news over the weekend.

So they’re also going to “recalibrate” this week on how or if that alters their free agency plans.

ON THE GIANTS’ COACHING DYSFUNCTION

Schoen was spinning like a top discussing the Giants’ coaching dysfunction in 2023.

He said during his Q&A with fans that “some of those articles come from sources that have an agenda; maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle.”

He claimed he would have gotten on the headsets during four Giants games late in the season even if the Giants had “been 9-0.”

He said: “I wish some of the guys that left nothing but the best.”

He said there’s “no tension” between Daboll and Mike Kafka, and the team promoted Kafka to continue developing him as a future head coach.

And he pointed to how the team “competed” down the stretch — although when asked about the messy end to the season with the coaches, he started his answer with: “You’d have to ask Dabes that.”

– With Antwan Staley