Giants paying for Jones; potential
At this time last year, the Giants decided to pass on the fifth-year option for Daniel Jones. Joe Schoen was the newly hired general manager and Brian Daboll was the newly hired head coach. That duo, imported from Buffalo, had never before worked with Jones. They had no reason to invest in him.
Presented with the opportunity to lock up a young starting quarterback for the 2023 season for the reasonable price of $22.3 million, Schoen declined. From that moment, Jones was swimming against the tide, running against the wind, whatever “this is going to be a stiff challenge’’ analogy you wish to find. You can try to prove otherwise, the Giants told Jones without saying so, but we don’t see you as part of the plan. And now? “I would say if I thought I was going to be here a year ago, I would’ve done the fifth-year option,’’ Schoen said this week after the Giants announced they had signed Jones to a four-year deal worth $160 million.
Schoen smiled at second-guessing himself. No one outside of Daniel Jones’ family thought picking up the fifth-year option was a wise move. No one inside the Giants’ facility is upset that waiting on Jones ended up costing more money — he was handed (via direct deposit) a bonus of $36 million as soon as he signed the contract. There is prescience and then there is logic. The Giants opted for logic, Jones made them pay and everyone is in a good place.
In the minds of the Giants’ most influential decision-makers, Jones went from a guy they expected to replace to a guy who they believe can be part of a Super Bowl winner.
“Yeah, that’s the goal,’’ Schoen said. “Everybody’s goal is to win a Super Bowl. I think Daniel, he played well his rookie year. He played well for us this past year. I think the coaching staff has confidence in him. As an organization, we have confidence in him. We’re going to continue to build the team around him.’’
The Giants paid Jones not for what he has accomplished the past four years, but for what they envision he is capable of accomplishing the next four years. That is why his inferior record as a starter (21-31-1) and his extremely modest touchdown pass total (60) were not held against Jones. The upside for the 25-year old, finally working with the best and the brightest coaches — and, if the plan works, upgraded talent on the field — was what sold Schoen and Daboll.
The Bills were not in the quarterback market in 2019, when the Giants made Jones the No. 6 pick in the draft, having selected Josh Allen a year earlier. Still, Schoen, as the Bills’ assistant general manager, did his research on Jones and that clued him in to “the type of person he was.’’ When Schoen arrived, he listened to those inside the Giants building who sang Jones’ praises.
Schoen studied Jones and tried to dig deeper than the surface.
“He has all the physical tools,’’ Schoen said. “He’s athletic. He can make all the throws. Just the situation he was in, I do think you have to look into that.’’ Oh yes, Schoen looked into that. “Year 2 and 3, what he went through,’’ he said. “The talent that was around him, the injuries. There’s a lot that went into it.’’
A lot went into it. Schoen took a look at the issues that caused the Giants to lose and Jones to struggle. The offensive line was shabby. There was a lack of weapons and a lack of creativity within the offensive coaching staff. Jones missed the last six games of the 2021 season with a neck injury.
“Being around Daniel for the last 13 months and seeing him play and the fourth-quarter comebacks and winning a playoff game on the road, there’s a lot of positives that a 25-year-old young man just displayed throughout the season,’’ Schoen said. “And the upside, I’ve got a lot of belief in our staff and Daniel’s work ethic and their relationship that will continue to grow, and Daniel will continue to get better. If he’s just at his floor right now, I’m really excited about what his ceiling is going to be.’’