Giants Country

Should Giants Just Franchise Tag Daniel Jones and Forget a Multiyear Deal?

Absolutely not. Here's why.
Patricia Traina|
Should Giants Just Franchise Tag Daniel Jones and Forget a Multiyear Deal?
Should Giants Just Franchise Tag Daniel Jones and Forget a Multiyear Deal?

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New York Giants

The only thing for sure about New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is that one way or another, he's going to get paid a lot more than he received over the four-year duration of his rookie contract ($25,664,056 total).

Depending on which reports you want to believe, Jones will get anywhere from $32.416 million per year (the franchise tag amount) to $35 million or more as he cashes in on the solid season he had in 2022.

But therein lies a potential dilemma for the Giants. Do they commit multiple years to a quarterback who thus far has had one solid season in the new offense and who managed to avoid missing games for the first time in his career due to injury?

Some might argue that it would be a bad idea to jump into the deep end with Jones until he's strung together at least two solid seasons in the team's current offense, just in case 2022 was an outlier.

While having some merit in theory, financially, such an approach is not logical and amounts to cap suicide. The biggest argument against that--and why Jones will likely get at least a four-year deal with an out after two--is that the franchise tag is not only fully guaranteed, it's a large chunk of change that would cut into the team's estimated $46,733,739 of cap space, reducing the amount to $14.317 million before any further roster moves are made.

That would leave the Giants with very little operating room--yes, even if they move on from receiver Kenny Golladay, who, by the way, would yield only a $6.7 million savings if he's a standard cut versus a $13.5 million savings if he's a post- June 1 transaction (the money not being available to the Giants to spend until after June 1).

By negotiating a multi-year deal, although the APY would probably fall between $32 and $35 million, the first year of many NFL contracts generally ends up being a lot less than the projected APY thanks to the cash signing bonus paid upfront, which can be prorated over the life of the contract up to five years.

The franchise tag, the deadline of which to apply is March 7, should be used as a last-ditch attempt should contract talks hit a snag--it should not be used as an automatic "set it and forget it" solution to retain Jones's service as to do so would be financially irresponsible for a team that still has a lot of holes it needs to fill.

 

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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