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Former Eagles RB likens Giants' signing Jones to investing in a garage

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back LeSean McCoy. Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

Former Eagles RB likens Giants' signing of Daniel Jones to investing in a garage

By Colum Dell | Last updated 7/18/23

The New York Giants failed to strike a long-term deal with Saquon Barkley before Monday's deadline for franchise-tagged players. The decision has since sparked debate about the state of the running back's value in today's NFL and whether the team chose correctly to prioritize quarterback Daniel Jones this offseason.

On Tuesday's episode of "Speak," 12-year NFL veteran LeSean McCoy offered an interesting comparison to argue that the Giants made a mistake by giving their franchise signal-caller a four-year, $160M contract.

McCoy and his fellow panelists discussed whether they'd rather invest in a Bentley or a house, implying Barkley is the car and Jones the home.

However, McCoy doesn't seem to believe Jones is much of a house at all.

"[Jones] is not even a condo, he's like a garage," McCoy said. "I mean, are we really going to sit here and act like Daniel Jones is this superstar quarterback? You're supposed to get better and better each year. I can't even say he's getting better each year, he had a really good year because of a really good coach.

"[Last season was Jones' ceiling," McCoy added. "We haven't seen Saquon Barkley's ceiling ... Saquon is more valuable, Saquon is the more marketable [player], you see him on every commercial. You will never see Daniel Jones in any commercials. A defense comes to play the Giants, you think they're really talking about Daniel Jones? They may mention him, but the main key to stop this team is Saquon Barkley."

“Daniel Jones’ isn’t even a condo. He’s like a garage.”@CutOnDime25 breaks down why Saquon is clearly more valuable than Daniel Jones to the Giants pic.twitter.com/7rya0DBSxQ
— Speak (@SpeakOnFS1) July 18, 2023

While McCoy surely has some bias in his reasoning, being a former running back and Philadelphia Eagle, to say we've seen Jones' ceiling and not Barkley's is a stretch.

It's true Barkley rushed for a career-high 1,312 yards in 2022, but there's an argument to be made that his peak was his 2018 Offensive Rookie of the Year-winning season.

That year, Barkley averaged five yards per carry and recorded 2,028 yards from scrimmage while scoring 15 total touchdowns, all marks he didn't reach in the last four seasons.

Stats aside, Barkley also has an extensive injury history and picked up a few more ailments while logging 295 rushing attempts last season, the most of his career.

Given those circumstances, it'd simply be unwise to commit a substantial amount of cap space to a position that is easiest to replace.

Meanwhile, Jones is coming off a career-best season, posting a 60.8 total QBR, the sixth-best in the NFL. His 15 touchdown passes leave some to be desired, but Jones had to learn the third system of his four-year career in 2022.

With another season under HC Brian Daboll and OC Mike Kafka, along with added weapons on offense, his ceiling could still be unknown, contrary to what McCoy believes.

When it comes down to it, the Giants made the right decision to give Jones priority over Barkley, overpayment or not. Especially considering that if the Giants had franchise-tagged Jones, what are the chances they would've re-signed Barkley?

It's difficult to imagine the 26-year-old tailback wouldn't be playing elsewhere this season had the situation unfolded that way.

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