As it is, I would not be in the market to acquire Barkley. Prior to the season he was at his highest value next to his break-out campaign, and his late season performances likely cemented his 1.02 redraft value in a lot of folks minds. That was the window for Barkley dynasty owners. Narrative: He is the bona fide centerpiece for an up & coming offense, that just took steps to improve the line, has a young strong-armed QB behind center, a borderline elite TE, and enough receiving weapons to keep a defense honest. They brought in a blue chip LB for a defense on the rise as well, so game scripts could normalize more towards benefiting the run game. The latter aspect of least concern, as Barkley is script independent due to his receiving ability.
Now, just 2 weeks into the season, we see a team with an OL in shambles, a young signal caller who's been improved with fumbles, but still shaky (likely due to the OL struggles), and enough holes that one draft/off-season is unlikely to solve what ails them.
I would not be a buyer of Barkley at anywhere near what a Barkley owner will likely command for him. IMO he is dead money. New narrative: Barkley is an injury prone RB who is an all-world talent if he can get/stay healthy, but now has 2 significant lower body injuries in 3 years, and there are looming questions about whether he can stay healthy. For all the grief "Fragile" Fred Taylor took, he started all 16 games 2 years running from 2002-2003, something Barkley hasn't yet achieved.
To a buyer, I don't see why he would have anywhere near the value he would have had a month ago. I'd be hard pressed to cough up a RB2 & a 2nd round pick for him, because I am assuming 100% of the risk that he 1. can't come back 100%, 2. comes back 100% and gets hurt again, or 3. comes back 100%, stays healthy & the Giants aren't still a FF wasteland with a terrible OL.
I say that knowing full well that a Barkley owner is never going to accept such a package. So either 1. A Barkley owner wanting to sell will have to lower expectations, or 2. a Barkley owner is stuck taking the aforementioned risks themselves.
It is what it is: Barkley's value tanks with this injury IMO. I'm sure many will disagree, but only the optimism of the buyer will determine his value. And if there was reason to be that optimistic, no one would be selling him.
It'll be interesting to see the deals folks post involving him. There's always someone willing to take a chance on a hurt player who's perceived to be elite. I suspect I won't like most of the trades for the buyer, because I see zero reason for optimism. I think he's a terrible dynasty acquisition target as owners will still want an "elite" package for him and there are dozens of better acquisition targets that buyers could likely get for the same or less.
I know all about optimism for hurt players. I drafted Fred Taylor every year for like 5 years. The first 2 were great. But at some point, even I had to admit Taylor was too fragile to bear the burden of a 5th, 6th, 7th or even 10th round pick. And he stayed healthier than Barkley, for perspective.