Saquon Barkley’s absence will be felt as Giants open camp — and will only increase

“Gone but not forgotten” must be the Giants’ marching orders as training camp opens up for all the players, coaches and support staff — but not for running back Saquon Barkley.

Life without Saquon (for now) will begin in earnest Tuesday, when the veterans report to camp and inhabit the locker room at the team facility, though Barkley’s locker is expected to remain empty.

Football life will open up the next day, with the first practice Wednesday morning — again, with no anticipated sight of Barkley on the green grass.

That day, general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll will make official the opening of camp; Daboll with the first of his daily briefings, Schoen by meeting with the media en masse for the one and only time for the foreseeable future.

Schoen and Daboll engineered a franchise turnaround in 2022 as newcomers to the Giants, and the sentiment inside the organization is overwhelmingly optimistic, a vibe of onward and upward.

Yet the first issues Schoen and Daboll will be asked to address will not focus on the nearly 90 players in the building, but on the one, Barkley, who has chosen to stay away, upset that a long-term contract agreement could not be reached and that the Giants are forcing him to play in 2023 on the one-year franchise tag of $10.1 million.

Barkley has not yet signed the tender, and when he does — or if he does — will determine when he next will appear on the premises.

As the grind of camp settles in, Barkley’s absence will become more of a footnote, bubbling to the surface again as the regular season nears.

For now, Camp Daboll 2.0 will be further advanced than his inaugural summer with the Giants — as far as familiarity with the schedule, the offense run by Daboll and Mike Kafka, and the returning players’ comfort with Wink Martindale’s style and defense.

For the first time since 2017, a Giants team will arrive for camp coming off a winning season, and looking to expand on what transpired last year is far more agreeable than hoping to rise from the ashes of prolonged dismal results.

“I just think you have to restart and build your team from the ground up,’’ said Daboll, the 2022 NFL Coach of the Year. “It’s like we say during the season: What you do one week has nothing to do with the next week. What you did one year has nothing to do with this year. So, we have to have the right mindset of improving each day. Again, as individually — coaches, players, staff — and as a group. That’s where we keep it. We don’t get too far ahead of ourselves. There’s a lot to work on, a lot to improve on, and that’s what we’re trying to do.’’

This is the first summer Daniel Jones will check in after signing a “you are our franchise quarterback’’ contract (four years, $160 million), and though his steady-as-he-goes demeanor probably will remain largely unchanged, his command of the offense and security in his job should make him a more demonstrative team leader.

And the Giants are in need of a leading man, sans Barkley.

The key newcomers on offense are tight end Darren Waller, wide receiver Parris Campbell and two rookies, center John Michael Schmitz and receiver Jalin Hyatt.

The most significant additions on defense are inside linebacker Bobby Okereke and cornerback Deonte Banks, a first-round pick in the draft.

Kafka interviewed for four head-coaching vacancies, and Martindale met with the Colts about their opening.

Daboll was able to retain his top coordinators, as well as special teams guru Thomas McGaughey, and all that continuity is a stark contrast to the turbulence of the past several years.

Prior to Daboll, the previous three head coaches hired by the Giants never made it into the third year of their contract.

Daboll is moving into Year 2 hoping the roots he has planted flourish for seasons to come.

“I think that actually makes a huge difference,’’ veteran defensive lineman Leonard Williams said. “I think that’s something about the league that I had to get used to when I first came out of college, is the constant changing of the coaches and the new building. You have to reestablish yourself almost every time that happens. Now that we have this coaching staff, I feel like we’ve created an identity last year. Now we’re coming in and just, like, knowing what it is. We know what type of coaches we have, we know what type of environment it is, we know what type of camaraderie we have. It just makes it smoother going through all of this this year.’’

It all starts up again with the opening of camp, an opening that will go on without Saquon Barkley.