Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley Offer Different Opinions on Giants' Future

Jones and Barkley are the two most important free agents the Giants have this off-season.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Jan 22, 2023 10:15 AM EST

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New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones and running back Saquon Barkley are arguably two of the most important and biggest free-agent decisions the team will need to make this off-season.

Both are not only set to be unrestricted free agents, but they are also set to cash in on what's been an overall successful season.

Barkley has always been open about his desire to be a Giant for life.

"I've been vocal about how I feel and where I want to be," Barkley said after the game. "That's outside of my control wanted to show the Giants that the guy they drafted is still here. I hope I did that."

Barkley posted a new career-high in rushing yardage in his first healthy season since his rookie campaign. But with his accomplishments will likely come a hefty price tag which the Giants might not be willing to invest in given their other pressing needs to bring the roster up to speed to better compete with the Eagles and the rest of the NFC East in future seasons.

The Giants reportedly had preliminary discussions with Barkley's representatives during the bye week in what was believed to be a feeling-out process. However, because of their cap situation in 2022, the Giants were unable to get Barkley extended, as any signing bonus money agreed to in the deal would have cut into their razor-thin 2022 cap space.

"Everyone knows I would love to be a Giant for life, but I really can't answer that--it's out of my control," Barkley said. "Sometime this week, I'll have a conversation with my agent Kim (Miale) and see what's up."

Jones, who has been guarded about his future, continued to take that approach after the game.

“I think we will get into that down the road," he said when asked if he'd like to remain a Giant. "At this point, this is still very fresh. This season. This loss. It will take some time to regroup and think through that going forward.”

Jones, of course, didn't have his option year picked up in his rookie deal, which, had it been, would have guaranteed his return next season. The reasoning at the time made sense: he was coming off three shaky years as a starter, and there were no guarantees that he'd flourish under known quarterback whisperer Brian Daboll, hired as the team's head coach.

Perhaps also factoring into the thinking was that the expectations for the Giants in their first season under Daboll were so low that perhaps the Giants might have the option of getting a quarterback in the spring's draft.

But the team's surprising play, which carried them to the divisional round of the playoffs, changed that. The Giants will draft 26th in the first round in April, and by then, all of the top franchise quarterbacks are expected to be long gone to the more quarterback-needy teams.

And speaking of which, Jones will also have options if he tests the market, as some team not particularly interested in starting over with a rookie might try and outbid the Giants for their quarterback if Jones hits free agency.

Jones said he has nothing but love and respect for the Giants organization, opining that he made strides in his play this season.

“I think I improved every week. I thought I was consistent throughout the year. There are certainly things I like to have back, especially tonight. I think there are some things I’ll go back and look to clean up, improve, and grow as a player. I thought, overall, I did do that. I grew and improved throughout the year, and I will continue to try and do that.”

Whether that means he'll stay with the team to continue his upward trend is another story. "We will cross that bridge when we get there," he reiterated.

The Giants can apply the franchise tag to one of the two if negotiations stall. The projected cost to franchise Jones is $32.455 million, while the projected cost to franchise Barkley would be $10.1 million. Thus it would behoove the Giants to get Jones done first and then work on Barkley's deal so that they are not choking their salary cap once free agency begins in mid-March.

Regarding Jones, the Giants could also opt for the transition tag, which would cost them $30.402 million. However, for the $2 million difference and the fact that if Jones were to sign with another team while Franchise tagged it would give the Giants two additional first-round picks, the transition tag is unlikely.