Daniel’s new deal is ‘team-friendly’ in way it’s structured
The guts of Daniel Jones’ four-year, $160 million contract extension reveals a “team-friendly” deal, in the words of multiple league sources, that boils down to a three-year, $112.5 million pact averaging $37.5 million per season.
Jones gains by getting $82 million guaranteed in the first two years, which is about $11 million more than the $71.28 million he would have made on consecutive franchise tags.
And thanks to the short four-year term, Jones also can get back to the negotiating table quickly before the 2026 season if he plays well, which benefits the player.
However, the Giants have the ability to get out of the contract after only two seasons at a dead cap cost of just $18 million.
An extra $12 million guaranteed in salary for 2025 doesn’t lock in until Year 3. It can be offset and come back to the Giants if they cut him before that.
And none of the Jones’ fourth season money is guaranteed, so bailing after Year 3 would be easy.
Jones’ contract averages $40 million per year on the surface, but the real money only averages $37.5 million over three.
Several league sources, therefore, believe that the Giants negotiating team led by Joe Schoen, Kevin Abrams and Ed Triggs did excellent work on this contract.
ProFootballTalk first reported the terms of Jones’ deal.
“You’re not going to get everything you want in a negotiation,” GM Schoen said on Zoom Wednesday. “Rarely is that ever going to happen. I think that goes for both sides. There was give and take. People were standing firm on what was most important for each side. At the end of the day, each side had to give a little bit. That’s why it went down to the wire. We’re happy we were able to get it done.”
Jones’ $82 million in guaranteed money for the first two years includes a $36 million signing bonus, guaranteed salaries in both 2023 ($9.5 million) and 2024 ($35.5 million), and a guaranteed $500,000 workout bonus for both seasons.
His reduced 2023 salary helped the Giants lower his cap hit to $19 million for Year 1, before it jumps to $45 million in 2024 and $39.5 million in 2025.
Jones’ $82 million guaranteed in the first two years, plus a $30.5 million base salary and workout bonus in 2025, makes up the true $112.5 million in this contract.
He had $23 million of the 2025 base salary guaranteed for injury at signing, but not fully guaranteed.
The fourth season’s $46 million salary and $56.5 million cap hit will never hit the Giants’ books, despite a $1 million roster bonus for the start of that league year. The team will either have renegotiated or cut Jones before that.
Then there are the incentives: Jones can earn up to $35 million extra based on achieving certain markers, per PFT.
Jones can earn up to $4 million in incentives and $4 million in escalators each season if he’s a top-five quarterback.
That includes a $1 million incentive and $1 million escalator in each year for being a top-15 QB; a $1.5 million incentive and $1.5 million escalator in each year for being a top-10 QB; and another $1.5 million and $1.5 million escalator in each year for being a top-five quarterback.
He also has playoff incentives that add up to $5 million in incentives and $5 million in escalators.
Jones switched agencies from CAA to Athletes First before these negotiations started, despite a long history of CAA and the Giants working out quarterback contracts.
It seems clear that getting to $40 million per year was a priority, and Jones did that and achieved a huge payday early.
The Giants, though, steered clear of a guaranteed long-term commitment, retained flexibility, and basically hit the true average annual value they had eyeballed all along.
“I’m certainly very grateful and appreciative of CAA and have some really strong relationships with those guys,” Jones said on Zoom. “I just thought this was the best thing for me going forward to work with Athletes First. And it was great working with them.
“I think we worked hard these last few weeks to get it done,” the QB added. “And I don’t want to speculate on how it would’ve gone if it was different. You never really know. But we got it done, and we’re here. We’re excited about it. I’m excited to be back.”