Analysis
1/23/23
3 min read
Giants GM Joe Schoen: We Want Daniel Jones Back
The New York Giants want to bring back quarterback Daniel Jones, general manager Joe Schoen told the media during his first end-of-year press conference on Monday.
"We'd like Daniel [Jones] to be here," Schoen said. "He said it yesterday — there's a business side to it. But, we feel like Daniel's played well this season, and he's done everything we've asked him to do."
Despite low expectations, the Giants finished the regular season 9-7-1 — good for the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoffs — breaking the Giants' streak of five consecutive seasons without a playoff berth. Jones took huge strides with a career-high 3,205 yards passing and a career-low five interceptions. He added 708 yards rushing, also a career-high, and 22 total touchdowns.
Before the start of the 2022 NFL regular season, the Giants declined Jones' fifth-year option, likely valued at around $22 million for the 2023 season. Few would argue that Jones has earned himself a contract with an average annual value far greater than the option number would have been. But regardless of the number, it appears clear the Giants will attempt to bring Jones back.
Trey Wingo, an analyst for The 33rd Team, certainly seems to think so.
"I think they've made a decision that Daniel Jones is going to be their quarterback going forward," Wingo said on Saturday, following the Giants' Divisional Round loss to the Eagles.
Wingo isn't the only expert who feels the Giants have found their man.
"Daniel Jones has been criticized this season and through his short career," said Samari Rolle, an analyst for The 33rd Team. "Bringing Brian Daboll in, they were able to put it all together this year… they beat the Vikings [in the Wild Card Round] and no one expected anything out of the Giants."
Jones isn't the only crucial Giant due to become a free agent. Running back Saquon Barkley played this season in the final year of his rookie deal and is up for an extension. Speaking with the media following the Giants' final game of the season in Philadelphia on Saturday, Barkley made it clear to reporters that his mind wasn't on record-setting money.
"I'm not really too concerned about resetting any [running back] markets or anything like that," Barkley told reporters. "I'm realistic."
The contract might not reset the market, but it will certainly cost the Giants. Barkley, a 2022 Pro Bowler, finished the season with 1,312 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns.
Schoen was also asked on Monday about his in-season negotiations with Barkley's representatives.
"We had productive conversations [with Barkley]," said Schoen. "And again, we were off on the value, but 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 didn't think."
Time will tell if the Giants spend the 2023 offseason building around Barkley and Jones or replacing them. But with the third-most projected cap space in the league and nine draft picks in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft, Schoen and Daboll will have plenty of resources to enact their plan.
