The New York Giants locked up two key pieces of their offseason Tuesday afternoon, signing QB Daniel Jones to an extension and using their franchise tag on RB Saquon Barkley.
Tuesday at 4pm ET represented the deadline for NFL teams to use their franchise and transition tags, with New York coming in just under the wire to get the deals done.
Speculation had been running rampant in the weeks leading up to the franchise tag deadline that the Giants and Jones weren’t anywhere close to reaching an agreement on a new contract. This complicated their negotiations with Barkley as the team had to weigh their options at QB before making any firm decisions on the 2x Pro Bowl running back.
With New York allegedly opening negotiations in the $30-35M per year range, and Jones’ camp standing firm at their $45M figure, it didn’t appear as though a common ground would be reached.
Cooler heads ultimately prevailed however, and both sides agreed to a 4 year $160M extension which will tie Jones to the franchise through the 2026 campaign.
The former 6th overall pick out of Duke posted career highs in virtually every category last season under new head coach Brian Daboll. Jones threw for 3,205yds through the air, and racked up 15 TDs against only 5 INTs across 16 starts in 2022.
The Charlotte, NC native also posted 708 rushing yards and scored a career best 7 TDs on the ground. Jones becomes the 9th quarterback across the league to hit the $40M+ benchmark in terms of AAV.
With their quarterback situation finally resolved, the Giants quickly turned their attention to impending UFA Saquon Barkley whom they used their non-exclusive franchise tag on to retain his services.
The 26 year old back recorded a career high 1,312 yards rushing last year as he appeared to return to the Saquon of old before a series of injuries sapped him of much of his burst in 2020 and 2021.
As a result of his bounce back season, Barkley finished second in Comeback Player of the Year voting and was selected to the 2nd Pro Bowl of his career. Under the terms of the franchise tag, the former Penn State running back will earn $10.09M in 2023.
Speaking at the NFL Combine last week, Giants GM Joe Schoen told reporters his goal this offseason was to retain both Jones and Barkley. “If you have to franchise Daniel I don’t think that’s best for the organization and I don’t think it’s best for Daniel, especially as we try to build the team around him and questions about receiver, other positions on the other side of the ball where we may need depth,” Schoen remarked. “It does hurt you a little bit in terms of the team-building process but we’re prepared if that’s the scenario we’re faced with we have a Plan B and we’ll try to execute that as best we can.”
Although it came down to the final minutes before the deadline Tuesday, Schoen & co. ultimately achieved their goal. Now New York can turn their attention to free agency, and the NFL Draft as they hope to build upon their 9-7-1 record from 2022.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.