When Saquon Barkley changed his mind and decided against staging a holdout, nobody’s role with the Giants was more affected than Matt Breida’s.
After re-signing on a one-year, $1.3 million contract, Breida was penciled in as the starting running back from the onset of Barkley’s tense contract dispute in March until the first day of training camp when the two-time Pro Bowler signed his one-year, $10.1 million franchise tag.
“Trust me, I wanted Saquon to be here,” Breida told The Post. “I welcome it because Saquon makes me better, I make Saquon better, and if you want to be a great player in this league, you want to have other great players at your position to push you. You don’t want to be like, ‘I know I’m going to be the starter outright.’ ”
As Barkley, Raiders’ hold-out Josh Jacobs, Colts’ trade-seeker Jonathan Taylor, free agents Dalvin Cook and Ezekiel Elliott and others fight the running back’s devaluation across the league, Breida is fighting Father Time.
He is now the age (28) when broad-scope analytics say that backs begin to succumb to cumulative wear and tear.
“A lot of that is based off what your carries were early in your career,” Breida said. “A lot of offenses I’ve been in, we used two backs, so I haven’t had to take 30-plus carries every game, which helps me now because I feel like I’ve still got my speed, still got my burst. At 28, I feel like I’m in the prime of my career, not slowing down at all.”
In a perfect business world, Breida would’ve hit the open market after leading the 2018 49ers in rushing.
Instead, the 49ers controlled his rights with a restricted free-agent tender until trading him to the Dolphins in 2020 — in a situation somewhat akin to the monopolizing franchise tag driving down the pay scale.
“There’s not much players can do about it until the next CBA [collective bargaining agreement] comes up,” Breida said. “A lot of times, people think you plug-and-play guys, but that doesn’t necessarily work for every offense. If you have an elite back, you should pay that back. All we can do is play to the best of our ability, show them our worth. All it takes is one guy to sign a big deal and reset the market.”
Breida is left battling James Robinson, Gary Brightwell, Jashuan Corbin and Eric Gray to keep last season’s role as Barkley’s top backup.
“You can cry about it, but you have to put yourself in reality, too,” Breida said of the state of the running back. “Look at how much we are making compared to the average person on the street. I’m grateful to play this game, and I’m making more money over this time in my career than I probably will any time in my life.”
With Barkley back in the fold, Breida likely is headed for a fourth straight season of 75 or fewer touches.
If Barkley skipped games, Breida could’ve been looking at about twice that number — like he averaged over his first three seasons.
“I’ve been there before as the back who gets most of the work,” Breida said, “so I was just worried about what I can control. And that was being in the best shape possible.”
