The New York Giants season may have ended in disappointing fashion with a 38-7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs, but there are few people who would call the season anything less than a success. Now, in the first full offseason with their new leadership at the helm, they have to make the crucial decision of whether they believe that success can continue with both Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley staying in New York.
Just minutes into the end-of-season press conference with general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll, the two were peppered with questions about whether or not the team would be looking to re-sign both Jones and Barkley.
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When it came to their quarterback, both Schoen and Daboll didn’t waver.
“We’d like Daniel to be here,” Schoen said firmly. “He continued to improve throughout the season. We’re pleased with how he played this season.”
“He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do,” added Daboll. “He’s done a really good job with operating and executing our offense. He’s made strides in a lot of different areas. He’s been a good leader for us. He’s played the quarterback position well for us, and I’m happy we had him.”
Later in the press conference, Schoen even slipped up and said “when he’s back next year.”
While an agreement between the Giants and their signal-caller appears likely, the details regarding what the deal might look like are still a long way from being shaped.
“Both sides have to have those conversations,” Schoen explained when asked if the potential deal would be a long-term one. “We haven’t crossed that bridge yet. There’s tools at our disposal, and we’ll go through several scenarios… There’s two parties involved and it could be time-consuming, but we’ll get together as a staff and talk through the different options and have those discussions when it’s appropriate.”
One of those “tools” that Schoen is referring to is the franchise tag, which would enable the Giants to keep Jones on a one-year deal for 2023 while they attempt to work out a longer-term contract.
However, Jones’ franchise tag would cost more than $32 million next season. That’s a salary that only nine quarterbacks in the NFL make and one that would account for nearly 75% of the Giants’ current budget for 2023. As a result, it seems highly unlikely the team would use the tag on Jones if they were unable to sign him.
It also seems likely from listening to Schoen and Daboll that the team wouldn’t even need to make that decision as a new contract for Jones seems to be a priority.
If the Giants do lock up their quarterback on a new deal then what does that mean for their star running back?
There seemed to be a little more hesitation when it came to discussing the Giants’ future of Saquon Barkley.
It’s clear that both Schoen and Daboll would like to have Barkley back.
“Saquon is a good player and a great teammate,” Schoen explained. “He’s a guy we’d like to have back if it works out.”
It’s the last part that could muddy things up.
Given that Saquon is a two-time Pro Bowler who just ran for 1,312 yards and 10 touchdowns, he has reminded the league that he remains one of the most talented pure running backs in the league. He will also be 26 years old at the start of the 2023 season and since running back production tends to fall off around 30 years old, he could be looking at the last big contract of his career.
Even though he stated that he is “not really too concerned about resetting markets” and knows that “having two years filled up with injuries and having a season of not performing to the level that [he] can perform doesn’t help,” he is still likely going to be seeking more than he was making in his current deal.
That could mean the $12 million a year that Joe Mixon, Aaron Jones, and Nick Chubb are all making. Since Saquon is the youngest of that group, it would also seem fair of him to ask for that, if not more.
Are the Giants willing to allocate that much money per year to a running back who has dealt with injuries already?
In previous conversations, it appeared that the two sides were not close in regards to agreeing on value.
“We were off on the value,” Schoen admitted. “Again, we said we would circle back up at the end of the season and continue those conversations, but at that time of year we weren’t really that close I think.”
Perhaps either the Giants or Saquon has changed their mind on their valuation after the last few months. Perhaps not. It’s clear that the Giants want Saquon back as a player, but they are also being realistic about the long-term ramifications of re-signing two potential franchise cornerstones in one off-season.
“We’ll get into how we want to build this team and allocate our resources, and that’s what it comes down to,” said Schoen. “He’s a good football player. He was durable for us this year. He played well, and he’s a guy we’d like to have back.”
However, Schoen also mentioned that “We’d like to have all of the guys back, but there’s a business side to it and rules you need to operate under in terms of salary cap…It just comes down to how we want to divvy it up, the money and the resources that we have, along with the draft. Again, we’re still trying to build this thing so we can sustain it.”
That issue of sustainability may mean limiting the big money, long-term contracts that are handed out. Especially at a position like running back where value can fall off drastically.
However, Barkley could be a more realistic option for the franchise tag. According to Over the Cap, the estimated price of the running back franchise tag is $10.1 million for 2023. That would be a raise from Barkley’s current $7.79 million a year and would keep him as the 8th-highest-paid running back in football.
Without question, the decision on what to do with Barkley’s and Jones’ new contracts is one that will dominate the conversation for the Giants this offseason and one that could define Schoen and Daboll’s tenure with the team.
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