Dave Gettleman will reverse course on contract negotiations for a running back who cuts in all directions.

A longtime believer in limiting extension talks to the offseason and focusing on football in the fall, Gettleman changed his stance within the last year — just in time for Saquon Barkley. Gettleman’s new stance is also welcome news for pending free agents Evan Engram and Jabrill Peppers.

“I think it depends on the guy and where the team is at,” the Giants general manager said Tuesday. “I used to feel like it was a bad idea but now not so much. Have I changed my idea on that? Yes, I’m a lot more flexible on it.”

If the season begins with Barkley playing in the final year of his original four-year, $31.9 million contract, he will be in territory that Todd Gurley, Ezekiel Elliott, Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara and Dalvin Cook avoided by signing their second contract after three seasons. Of course, none of their first contracts were as big as Barkley’s and none were major injury question marks like Barkley is entering Year 4.

The Giants handed a $95 million extension to receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in 2018, when he was still fresh off of a season-ending fractured ankle entering his fifth season. Gettleman never comments on contracts, but Barkley’s negotiations have not begun in earnest, sources told The Post.

So, what do the Giants need to see before extending Barkley?

“You need to see him back on the field producing, which we expect that to be the case,” co-owner John Mara said. “Our medical people feel very good about where he’s at right now. I like what I’ve seen from him out on the field, and hopefully that’ll be an easy decision for us as well.”

After a sensational rookie year, Barkley has missed 17 games over the past two seasons. He sprained his ankle in 2019 and tore his ACL, partially tore his MCL and sprained his meniscus in 2020.

Barkley’s durability issues feed the mass of critics who questioned the Giants’ usage of the No. 2 pick in the 2018 draft. Gettleman once infamously mocked analytics over the idea that running backs hit a wall around age 30.

Three years later, Gettleman still isn’t conceding the position’s relatively short shelf life, though Barkley himself has admitted many times he is aware that the physical toll of his position will add up.

Barkley is limited to individual drills in training camp, and the Giants have not committed to his return in time for the season opener, prioritizing his long-term health and possibly delaying his comeback until after the one-year anniversary of the injury in Week 3.

“Really and truly, you can talk about injuries at any position,” Gettleman said. “I would not make a different decision today than I made in 2018, plain and simple.”

In hindsight, the Giants passed on quarterback Josh Allen, who just signed a six-year, $258 million extension with the Bills, and three-time Pro Bowl guard Quenton Nelson and Pro Bowl pass-rusher Bradley Chubb. But Gettleman remains loyal to Barkley — perhaps the best indication yet that he will get his big payday.

The Giants will get an up-close look in joint practices later this week at the Browns’ Nick Chubb, the running back taken 33 picks after Barkley. Chubb re-signed for a market bargain of three years and $36 million.

The wait-and-see approach guards the Giants against a regrettable contract, but gives Barkley an opportunity to prove he is as dominant as ever, and shoot to eclipse McCaffrey’s running-back-high $16 million per year salary on a four-year, $64 million deal.

Gettleman reportedly turned down a big haul from the Bills for the No. 2 pick in 2018 and admittedly later told his staff to stop taking calls because of his confidence in Barkley. When Barkley wants to negotiate, however, the phone lines will be open.

“Stuff happens. Not everything is perfect,” Gettleman said. “There are guys all over this league that get hurt — big-time players. He has done a great job rehabbing. I feel the same way about him: He’s different.”