The Giants clinched their first playoff berth since 2016 this afternoon, as their surprisingly successful campaign continues. Much of the team’s performance has been attributed to new head coach Brian Daboll, but two key starters on offense have been integral as well.
Quarterback Daniel Jones and running back Saquon Barkley entered this season with varying levels of expectation and plenty of uncertainty given their statuses as pending free agents. Updates throughout the season have illustrated the team’s priorities with respect to which (if not both) players will be targeted for deals keeping them in New York through 2023. Both long-term contracts and a franchise tag are on the table, and the team’s move with one will no doubt heavily impact their actions with the other.
Providing the latest update on the situation, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that the Giants see both players as franchise contributors for 2023 “and beyond” (video link). As such, he adds, they will look to get deals done with each of them, though the presence of the franchise tag likely makes multi-year deals for both of them a stretch. Rapoport also notes, unsurprisingly, that New York will have a price point which they will not exceed during upcoming negotiations.
The Giants’ new regime under Daboll and GM Joe Schoen reportedly doubted the upside Jones would provide if he were to be retained as a long-term solution under center at the start of the campaign. The former sixth overall pick has gone on to have a career-year in spite of an injury-riddled, talent-deprived pass-catching corps surrounding him, however. His signs of improvement made it noteworthy when no contract talks were held during the team’s bye week. His continued impressive play makes the Duke product an interesting case study in how the organization will handle their first two major negotiations since the coaching and front office changes.
As for Barkley, the situation has been notably different on a number of levels given his undisputed talent and production when healthy. With the Giants believing his injury issues are behind him, he was involved in bye week extension talks. Given his position, the former second overall pick would be a more logical tag candidate than Jones; the one-year pacts are projected to carry a difference of roughly $22M next year. However, New York has reportedly been willing to commit to a big-ticket second contract with Barkley, who entered today ranked fourth in the league with 1,254 rushing yards.
Jones and Barkley will be significant factors in any postseason success the Giants have this year, as the team continues to weigh its options on how they handle this situation. Regardless of the outcome, their intention of keeping both in the fold for at least the short- and intermediate-term future is clear.
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