What Long-Term Deal With Daniel Jones, Franchise Tag On Saquon Barkley Mean For New York Giants

For roughly the past half-decade, the New York Giants and their fans have debated this question more than any other: can the team build to a championship with Daniel Jones at quarterback?

Now, with the two sides reportedly agreeing on a long-term contract, the question won’t be hypothetical anymore. Jones and the team agreed to a four-year, $160 million contract as a base, with incentives that can increase that total to as much as $195 million.

The agreement represents something significant north of the $32 million the Giants would have paid Jones had they put the franchise tag on him, if shy of the rumored $45 million Jones had been seeking annually.

But by any measure, it means two things: the Giants see Jones as their quarterback for years to come, and Jones has played his way into a far different universe of NFL stars than just a year ago, when New York declined a chance to keep Jones in 2023 on a fifth-year option worth $22.4 million.

It’s hard to call that a mistake — it gave New York the chance to evaluate Jones for an entire season, and didn’t ultimately cost the team a chance to keep him in 2023. That, Schoen told reporters back in January, was the goal. But it does complicate matters for Joe Schoen going forward.

I” don’t know if there was necessarily an ‘Aha’ moment or anything like that,” Schoen said. “We just continued to evaluate him throughout the season and what the coaches were asking him to do. And he was executing the game plans. Dabs and I communicate on a daily basis – not just Dabs and I, but the offensive staff and what they’re asking him to do. He continued to improve throughout the season. I don’t know the exact date or time when we’re like, ‘Daniel is our guy,’ but we’re pleased with how he played this season.”

One thing the deal did simplify was the call on Saquon Barkley, who received the non-exclusive franchise tag from New York on Tuesday as well, just ahead of the deadline to do so. Instead of having to use it on Jones, with Barkley a free agent, the Giants can now negotatiate a long-term deal with Barkley until July 17. If no agreement is reached, Barkley will play for New York in 2023 at a salary that is either an average of the top five tag amounts at the player’s position from the previous five years, or 120% of the player’s previous year’s salary, whichever is higher.

Other teams can sign Barkley, but the Giants can then choose to either match and retain him, or receive two first-round picks as compensation. It’s an unenviable bargaining position for Barkley, but it sets the Giants up to keep their building block running back for at least 2023 as well, to see whether the health he displayed in 2022 — he played 16 regular-season games and was a workhorse for New York, rushing a career-high 295 times — will carry over into 2023 as well.

Meanwhile, the Giants reportedly have an extension offer on the table for Barkley already, so this could be moot. But the bigger his 2023 number, the less money Schoen has left to utilize on everything from a Dexter Lawrence extension to addressing holes at linebacker and in the secondary.

New York has prioritized quarterback, however, reasoning that in a world where the entire Jets’ universe is flying across the country just to meet with Aaron Rodgers less than two years after selecting Zach Wilson second overall in the 2021 draft, and Geno Smith could earn $105 million over the next three years (even as Seattle is considering taking a quarterback fifth overall), keeping the 26-year-old Jones through his prime and finding him some additional targets was the smart play.