Executives blast Giants for 'wild' Daniel Jones contract

At least one NFL executive believes the New York Giants made a mistake holding onto quarterback Daniel Jones via his new contract. 

"They would have been better off doing a bad deal with Saquon Barkley and (franchise) tagging Jones rather than the other way around," the anonymous executive told NFL senior writer Mike Sando of The Athletic. "Who was going to step out and pay Daniel Jones? That one was wild." 

It was learned on March 7 that the Giants and Jones agreed to a four-year deal that could be worth up to $160M and includes an additional $35M in incentives. Because the sides came to terms before 4 p.m. ET that day, the Giants were able to utilize the non-exclusive franchise tag to retain Barkley's rights for 2023-24. 

That same afternoon, ESPN's Jordan Raanan pointed out that Jones' contract included $82M guaranteed at signing. The Athletic's Dan Duggan noted on March 10 the structure of the agreement gives the Giants "an escape hatch" that could allow them to go in a different direction at quarterback after the 2024 season. 

"They can cut ties with Jones to create $21.5M in cap savings while eating $18M in dead money," Duggan wrote. "It’s not ideal to eat $18M in dead money, but with a projected $282M salary cap in 2025, the Giants could absorb that hit if they’re compelled to dump Jones." 

Nevertheless, a different executive said it was "surprising that (the Giants) didn’t try to squeeze (Jones) a little bit" even though the quarterback guided Big Blue to a playoff berth and a postseason victory under first-year head coach Brian Daboll and first-year general manager Joe Schoen.

"They probably want to continue to instill confidence in him," that executive added about Jones. "They overpaid Eli (Manning) in the past. That could just be a position they don’t want to mess around with and get too cute with." 

Jones was a revelation in Daboll's offense through the playoff win at the Minnesota Vikings in January, but the 25-year-old will only silence such takes about his contract by producing repeat performances beginning this coming September. 

As for Barkley, Giants co-owner John Mara made it known last week he'd like for the 2018 first-round draft pick "to be a Giant for his entire career." However, Schoen later confirmed that "there's no outstanding offer" as it pertains to potentially signing Barkley to a long-term deal now that the star running back is on the franchise tag.