Giants: 3 most likely contract solutions for Daniel Jones

Daniel Jones is set to become a free agent in the offseason. Here are three ways the New York Giants can approach his next contract.

Few NFL quarterbacks had a bigger emergence in 2022 than Daniel Jones, who entered the year looking to prove himself to a new regime after having his fifth-year option declined.

Jones put together the best season of his young career, setting career-highs in passing yards (3,205) and completion percentage (67.2 percent) while turning the ball over just six times.

The New York Giants also benefitted from Jones’ tremendous year by exceeding preseason expectations to go 9-6-1 and earn a playoff spot, even picking up a tremendous win over the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card round. Jones is now set up to do very well on his new contract, which could pay him franchise quarterback money as the Giants’ long-term leader.

Figuring out how to handle this negotiation is tricky for New York, which also has to try and retain Saquon Barkley while looking to improve the talent base of a roster that was exposed in a blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the Divisional Round. Here are a few options the Giants can consider with Jones’ next deal.

The Giants could simply pay Daniel Jones the going rate for quarterbacks

Letting Jones get to free agency is a tremendous risk since a ton of teams will be in the market for a new quarterback. This puts the leverage in Jones’ hands since the Giants will want to get a deal done with him prior to the offseason so it frees them up to use the franchise tag on Barkley.

No one is going to expect Jones to get the kind of money that a guy like Lamar Jackson is seeking since he doesn’t have the resume of someone like that. A good comparison could be Kirk Cousins, who is a quarterback in the same class as Jones and will earn $36 million in 2023.

Giving Jones a four or five-year contract with that average salary would pay him market value for quarterbacks. This is the kind of commitment the Giants should make if Brian Daboll feels like there is still more untapped potential in Jones’ game, particularly if New York upgrades its supporting cast.

A bridge contract could make sense for Daniel Jones

The next option the Giants could consider is a bridge contract, which essentially pays Jones at the market rate but provides the team outs if he isn’t performing. Notable quarterbacks who have signed deals like this include Ryan Tannehill, whose contract Tennessee may look to escape from next season, and Derek Carr, who the Las Vegas Raiders are trying to trade before the rest of his guarantees kick in.

This kind of deal would require the Giants to pay Jones a significant amount of money upfront in a five or six-year deal and include language that guarantees more money if he is on the roster by the third day of a league year. This contract makes sense since it offers Jones a higher salary but provides the team an out if he doesn’t continue to develop like he did in 2022.

The Giants could use the non-exclusive rights franchise tag on Daniel Jones

The most interesting option here would be the non-exclusive rights franchise tag, which would pay Jones the franchise tag salary in 2023, which is projected to be roughly $32 million. The non-exclusive tag isn’t used very often since it does permit players on the tag to negotiate with other teams, allowing Jones to potentially test the waters and see if another team is willing to blow the Giants out of the water.

If a desperate team did offer Jones a deal under this tag, the Giants would have the right to either match the deal or let him go in exchange for two first-round picks. This scenario would likely involve New York feeling that there are passers in this year’s draft class that Daboll could develop, which would allow the Giants to package multiple first-round picks to move up towards the top of the draft board.

This scenario is the least likely since it would not only require taking the risk that Jones finds a better deal on the market but also means the Giants would have to get a deal done with Barkley first. Time will tell what will happen, but the one thing we can say for sure is that Jones will be paid handsomely this offseason.