Danny Dollars: How the Giants Reversed Course and Signed Daniel Jones

Former NBA player and current media personality Jalen Rose often says, “You never get what you deserve, you get what you have the leverage to negotiate.” There may be no better example of this axiom than the four-year, $160 million contract quarterback Daniel Jones just signed with the New York Giants. As was first reported by Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post, Jones’ representatives and Giants general manager Joe Schoen agreed on a deal just minutes before Tuesday’s 4pm deadline for using the franchise tag.  This allowed the club to apply the tag to running back Saquon Barkley. Big Blue’s two most prominent players stay in house.

The Breakdown

While the full details of Jones’ deal haven’t yet been released, we know most of the major figures involved.

Details on the #Giants deal for QB Daniel Jones:
— 4 years
— $160M
— $35M more in incentives
— $82M over the first two years
— $94M virtually guaranteed at signing.
— First-year cap number around $19M.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 7, 2023

The four-year, $160 million total is eye popping. It appears, though, from the $82 million guaranteed over the first two years that New York can potentially get out of the contract after 2024 without incurring an overly burdensome dead cap hit. If Jones builds off his career-best 2022 season and flourishes under the continued tutelage of head coach Brian Daboll, the Giants can restructure his likely hefty 2024 cap hit to add more talent to a hopefully contending roster. So while this contract may not be the four-year commitment it seemed at first blush, it’s at least a two-year commitment with significant guarantees.

Change of Plans

It’s remarkable we’ve gotten to this point with Jones, given the bet Schoen made against him upon arriving in New York. Schoen’s first order of business with the Giants was to accept or decline the fifth-year option on Jones’ rookie contract. He declined it, saying only that “it was the best decision for the New York Giants at this time.” It was an empty, anodyne explanation, but really, Schoen needn’t have spelled out what anybody paying attention easily figured out. Schoen declined the fifth-year option ($22.384 million guaranteed for 2023) because he was betting that Jones wouldn’t play well enough in 2022 to warrant keeping around for 2023.

It wasn’t an unreasonable bet, given Jones’ first three professional seasons were mostly defined by losing, turnovers, and late-season injuries. He showed flashes of promise, but not nearly enough consistency. Jones broke out with a strong 2022 season (22 total touchdowns, 3,913 total yards, and just five interceptions). He led Big Blue to their first playoff win since 2011. Schoen had to admit he lost that bet and give Jones substantially more money than the fifth-year option would’ve entailed.

Winning Time

Now it’s time for Jones to deliver on his end of the bargain and play as well if not better. He should have a better supporting cast than last year, so another leap could even be in the cards. Nobody knows if the Giants will come to regret or extol this contract. But for the first time Schoen is actually betting on, not against, his quarterback.

– Ryan Cuneo is the Managing Editor of Full Press Giants. He covers the New York Giants. Like and follow on Follow @ryan_cuneo Follow @FullPressGiants and Facebook.