Boomer Esiason blasts Giants' Daniel Jones for reported contract demands

Former New York Jets quarterback and current "The NFL Today" analyst Boomer Esiason has blasted New York Giants starter Daniel Jones over his alleged salary demands. 

"$45 million? You’re out of your mind," Esiason said during Friday's edition of his WFAN show, per Ryan Chichester of Audacy. "You gotta understand who you are. Fifteen touchdowns and five interceptions is not getting you $45 million a year. It’s just not…his worth is somewhere between $27 (million) and $32 million a year." 

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio raised plenty of eyebrows when he first reported earlier this week that Jones' camp was looking for "as much as $45 million per year" in contract negotiations. Some questioned the accuracy of that story, but ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler has since said he believes the figure is "real" and that "some teams believe it’s real." 

Under first-year head coach Brian Daboll, Jones remained healthy enough to make a career-high 16 regular-season starts. According to ESPN stats, the 25-year-old finished the campaign tied for sixth in the league with a 60.8 adjusted QBR, and he matched 15 touchdown passes with just five interceptions. Jones was 15th with 3,205 passing yards, fifth among quarterbacks with 708 rushing yards, and tied for third among signal-callers with seven scores on the ground. 

Esiason, who explained this week that he recently spoke with multiple people around the NFL regarding Green Bay Packers star Aaron Rodgers, added that Jones and the Giants could come to terms on a deal similar to what the Minnesota Vikings and Kirk Cousins agreed to last year. Per Mike Sando of The Athletic, Cousins is set to earn around $35 million for the 2023 season.

"He’s not a top-10 quarterback. He’s just not," Esiason said of Jones. "For Daniel Jones, maybe five years from now we’re talking about a four-time Pro Bowler because he’s with this coaching staff, and then he signs another bigger contract. But the Giants need to be really smart about what they do and how they spend their money." 

The Giants have until March 7 to either sign Jones or use the franchise tag to retain his rights. It sounds like Esiason believes Jones will need to be more realistic if he wants to guarantee future earnings beyond just the $32.4 million attached to the tag this winter.