Insider offers updated contract figures for Giants QB Daniel Jones

There's more information about the type of contract New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones could land this offseason. 

"The appropriate figure is believed to be somewhere between $35 and $37 million, two executives familiar with the quarterback market told SNY," SNY NFL insider Connor Hughes reported on Monday. "Another, whose team is in need of a veteran quarterback and would 'explore' Jones if he were available, said he’d have a 'hard time' justifying a $40 million figure for him. In the $30 millions? 'Sure,' the exec said, 'but not above.'"

Hughes added that Giants general manager Joe Schoen is probably "kicking" himself for declining the fifth-year option attached to Jones' rookie deal last spring. That decision made the 2022 season a contract year for Jones, and the signal-caller responded by enjoying a breakout campaign playing under first-year head coach Brian Daboll.

Schoen left little doubt in his end-of-season news conference last month that keeping Jones is the club's top priority ahead of the new league year that opens in March.

It was subsequently estimated that the 25-year-old could receive a deal that pays him an average annual salary between roughly $29.5-$40 million. 

Hughes noted that Schoen ideally wants his QB1 "under contract for five or six years, at an (average annual value) in the high $30s (millions)" to provide the Giants with needed salary-cap space across the length of the agreement. 

Hughes also echoed Paul Schwartz of the New York Post and others by making it clear that "Jones isn’t going anywhere" this winter or spring, as Schoen can use the franchise tag to retain the 2019 first-round draft pick's rights for 2023. 

In a piece published on Jan. 31, ESPN's Jordan Raanan pointed out that the nonexclusive franchise tag for a quarterback is $32.416 million for next season. 

Schoen hasn't publicly said it, but it's thought he'd prefer to use a tag to hold onto star running back Saquon Barkley for at least one more season and lock Jones down via a multiyear agreement.