Are the Giants deals worth it?
While it felt like the two-minute warning, the New York Giants just ahead of the 4 p.m. ET deadline for NFL teams to use their franchise and transition tags agree to a four-year deal with quarterback Daniel Jones. Big Blue used their franchise tag on star running back Saquon Barkley.
What was likely a stressful offseason of sorts for Giants fans is finally in the past as New York can look forward to a 2023-2024 season with two of their biggest stars returning to MetLife Stadium.
Giants general manager Joe Schoen publicly stated that the team hoped to retain both players, and as far as goals go, mission accomplished. Jones, who turns 26 in May, is coming off his best season after passing for 3,205 yards with 15 touchdowns and five interceptions, while also running for another 708 yards and seven touchdowns.
Jones led the Giants to the postseason for the first time since 2016. Had the Giants elected to use the franchise tag on Jones, which many speculated, he’d have been the youngest player to ever get tagged. Instead, the quarterback is expected to sign a 4-year extension worth $160 Million.
Star running back Saquon Barkley in the meantime will have the New York Giants franchise tag placed on him. Barkley and the Giants can still negotiate a multi-year deal until July 17th but if no contract extension is reached then the running back will play under his franchise tag this season.
The franchise tag for running backs is estimated to be around $10.1 Million. Barkley, who celebrated his 26th birthday back on February 9th is coming off of a career-best 1,312-yard season rushing along with 10 touchdowns.
How do the deals for Jones and Barkley stack up?
Retaining Barkley had been a question mark, only made larger in font, so to speak, with the implications of retaining Jones as well for the Giants. Fans on the internet are astonished at the size of the contract going to Jones, as opposed to Barkley. It’s often said in a salary-cap league, value is paramount. But the value isn’t necessarily player vs. player, but more about position vs. position.
The most valuable position on a team is the quarterback. The player under the helm for a team can make or break a season. A four-year deal for $160 Million to Daniel Jones says a lot about how they value him as a player. His breakout season in New York must not be considered a fluke, or else why commit so many resources to retaining him?
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reports that Jones is receiving $82 Million guaranteed over the first two-years of his contract. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport added that Jones’ salary-cap number for 2023 is worth around $19 Million.
A $40M AAV is work 17.7% of the New York Giants’ 2023 salary cap. Would you say a quarterback is worth about 20% of a team’s wins? I certainly would. Let’s breakdown some other unrestricted free agents:
Dak Prescott holds 21.9% of the Dallas Cowboys’ salary cap.
Kirk Cousins holds 15.8% of the Minnesota Viking’s salary cap.
Ryan Tannehill holds 14.9% of the Tennessee Titans’ salary cap.
This is just the going rate for starting, franchise, quarterbacks in the NFL. Geno Smith signed a 3-yr contract with the Seattle Seahawks worth $105 Million. Derek Carr signed with the Saints for 4 years and $150 million. Signing similar deals to Jones are the Rams’ Matt Stafford, and the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott. If Jones can continue the performance he had last season, he’s right up there with these names.
Is this a good deal? This was THE deal, if you wanted to avoid free agency. Another team would have given Jones this kind of contract, leaving the Giants where?
What to expect for the remainder of the offseason
There are several teams out there in the quarterback market so what Joe Schoen did for the Giants today was eliminate Big Blue from the line of clubs out there looking for their next quarterback. Schoen and the Giants seem to believe they found the present and the future in Daniel Jones and put their money where their mouth is by riding on this big deal signed today.
Barkley’s career has been plagued with injuries, and running backs, by their position don’t tend to have long careers in the NFL. While the star running back will still be able to solicit other offers, the Giants will retain the right to match whatever offer he’s given by other teams and if they decide not to, will get two 1st round picks if Barkley signs elsewhere.
The Giants have more work to do, and some flexibility as they’ll likely need to upgrade the receiver group, the secondary, and the interior offensive line. With an expected $18 Million left on the salary cap, let’s see how Big Blue bolsters this roster for next season, which will likely have a much tougher schedule than the Giants faced in 2022-2023.
