Giants Get Ideal Outcome: Sign Daniel Jones To Four-Year, $160M Deal; Use Franchise Tag On Saquon Barkley
The Daniel Jones contract saga has borne fruit.
Jones is signing a four-year contract with the New York Giants, OutKick has learned.
The numbers for the deal are $160 million over the next four years with $82 million payable to Jones the next two seasons. The deal can also include up to $35 million more in incentives.
So the Giants have their starter locked up and that allowed the club to use the franchise tag on running back Saquon Barkley. That guarantee locks up perhaps the team's most explosive offensive player at a cost of $10.1 million in 2023.
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones and running back Saquon Barkley. (Getty Images)
This is a good day for all parties involved.
So the Giants are happy. Daniel Jones is happy. And Barkley, who will eventually get a long-term deal, is in wait and see mode.
Jones gets the contract number he wanted. That number is a 4, as in the first number on the annual average his long-term deal offers.
Jones gets an average of $40 million per season.
The Giants didn't want to go that high. They were more in tune with a deal in the $35 million to $37 million per season range.
But they understand getting Jones signed long term means they don't have to invest $32.4 million in the form of a franchise tag on the quarterback.
That's big because a franchise tag goes on the salary cap in full. No proration. No small cap numbers.
That would have hindered the Giants in their attempt to keep Barkley and sign other players and add talent in free agency.
So the club gets that cap relief with the long-term deal and has ability to make other moves.
What Are The Giants Getting In Jones?
Jones, you must recall, has thrown 60 TD passes in 54 games while also throwing 34 interceptions. He's also fumbled 42 times.
That doesn't mean he's terrible. The Giants obviously value Jones enough to mitigate the risk of losing him by paying him a very large deal.
But neither does it mean Jones is a star. And the Giants, in negotiations that bled deep into the night on some recent sessions, didn't wish to overpay.
This deal initially slots Jones into a tie for the seventh-highest paid quarterback in the league on an annual average. He joins Dak Prescott and Matt Stafford making $40 million per season.