According to Mike Garafolo, the sense he gets from monitoring contract talks between the Giants and QB Daniel Jones is that somewhere around $40 million a year is the magic number for Jones’ camp to agree to a deal.
Garafolo adds that if average annual salary is important to Jones, the Giants will certainly ask for concessions in guaranteed money and cash flow.
He notes the $45 million a year number that was floating around before is in the distant past now.
The Giants and Jones’ new agents have been hammering away at a deal for about a week, including all the way through the Scouting Combine and again in New Jersey over the past 48 hours or so. Earlier today it was reported as 50-50 the two sides would be able to get a deal done before today’s franchise tag deadline.
Some reports indicate a deal is in the neighborhood of four years and $160 million, with one source telling ESPN, “A big number is on the table.”
The franchise tag is worth $32.4 million fully guaranteed for the 2023 season. Jones and the Giants will have until July 17 to negotiate a long-term deal, otherwise he has to play out the season on the tag.
Jones, 25, was selected by the Giants with the No. 6 overall pick out of Duke in the 2019 NFL Draft. He just finished the final year of his four-year, $25,664,056 rookie contract that included a $16,684,768 signing bonus.
The Giants declined Jones’ fifth-year option entering the 2022 season. He’s due to be an unrestricted free agent in 2023.
In 2022, Jones appeared in 16 games for the Giants and completed 67.2 percent of his pass attempts for 3,205 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions. He added 120 rushing attempts for 708 yards (5.7 YPC) and seven touchdowns.
We have him included in our Top 100 – 2023 NFL Free Agents list.
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