JONESING TO RETURN
QB makes it clear he wants to be back with G-Men
Let there be no mistake.
“I love this place,” Daniel Jones said on Sunday, as he and his teammates cleaned out their lockers, their season over and done with. “I want to be here.”
No one gets everything they want, but in this case, it is difficult to conjure up a scenario in which Jones and the Giants are not together again for the 2023 season, and beyond. There is not much compelling evidence to suggest when it is time for the Giants to reconvene that Jones will be anywhere else but situated in his customary end locker stall.
Immediately after the Giants were ousted from the playoffs with a non-competitive 38-7 loss to the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday, Jones was given two opportunities to state he wanted to return to the Giants — the team that selected him at No. 6-overall in the 2019 NFL Draft. Both times, he dodged and did not answer. As it turns out — and anyone who has been around Jones for some time would have figured this out — Jones was not ready to move ahead and express his own desires at a time when he was hurting from a blowout loss.
“I don’t see how it got interpreted,” Jones said. “I didn’t see any of that.”
Before the loss had actually settled in, running back Saquon Barkley said he could not envision that being his last game in a Giants uniform. Jones was not nearly as introspective in the visitors’ locker room on Saturday and only slightly more revealing a day later.
Asked if he has any doubts he will be back with the Giants, Jones said, “I don’t know. Right now more than anything thinking about this year and this team and the guys and how grateful I am to be a part of it. Special group of guys. I’ve really enjoyed being here, I have nothing but love and respect for this organization. I’d love to be back but we’ll see, there’s a business side of it, too.”
Ah yes, the business side. Jones is clearly uneasy when his expiring contract, the massive salaries for starting NFL quarterbacks and where he fits in are topics for discussion. He actually fidgeted a bit when the subject was broached.
“Um, yeah, I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite part of it,” Jones said. “I think you play for the love of the game and the opportunity to dedicate yourself to something and work to improve as a player, as a person, to me that’s what it’s about.
“At the same time, at this level it’s a business and you can’t ignore that piece of it.”
Jones said he is aware of what the market is, as far as what starting quarterbacks around the league earn on an annual basis.
“Yeah, I got a good sense of that,” he said.
If so, he is cognizant that there are nine quarterbacks in the $40 million per year club: Aaron Rodgers ($50 million per year), Russell Wilson ($49 million), Kyler Murray ($46 million), Deshaun Watson ($46 million), Patrick Mahomes ($45 million), Josh Allen ($43 million), Derek Carr ($40 million), Matthew Stafford ($40 million) and Dak Prescott ($40 million). It is logical to make an argument that Jones deserves to be in the next tier, consisting of Kirk Cousins ($35 million per year), Jared Goff ($33.5 million), Carson Wentz ($32 million), Matt Ryan ($30 million) and Ryan Tannehill ($29.5 million). At 25 years old, Jones is younger than every quarterback in the top 14 in salary other than Murray — Jones is less than three months older than Murray.
It is natural that Jones compares himself with the others at his position, in terms of success on the field and in financial dealings.
“You try not to do that,” Jones said. “Over the course of these first few years I think I’ve learned outside of the contract piece of it, just when you watch other players throughout the league and you get into situations where you’re comparing yourself, I don’t think that’s ever fair and not all that productive. Every situation is different, you don’t know what exactly other guys are dealing with and they don’t know what you’re dealing with. At any position I think comparing players across the league, I think at least I’ve learned, I don’t know how helpful it is.”
As for any report that the Giants and Jones are close to a deal, Jones said, “I don’t think there’s much truth to that.’’ Of course, this is accurate, considering negotiations were never going to open up until after the season. General manager Joe Schoen believes there should not be any major decisions made until at least one week after the season has ended, in order to prevent emotion from clouding his judgment.
Jones said he has had “positive” conversations with Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll when those talks have ventured into what comes next.
“I think they think I made a lot of improvement this year,” Jones said. “I’ll let them speak for themselves when it comes to that stuff. We’ve had conversations, they’ve been positive and I’ve enjoyed playing for ’em.”
This season and, most likely, on into the future.