Is tagging Jones really worth losing a stud like Barkley?
After a resurgent 2022 season, it seemed clear Daniel Jones and reigning Coach of the Year Brian Daboll should get more time to work together. If you help a franchise to its first playoff win in over a decade, it’s not a mix people are so readily willing to walk away from.
Unfortunately, per a recent report from Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, giving Jones the compensation he’s potentially seeking might mean the loss of a vital stud: Saquon Barkley. With both Jones and Barkley set to be unrestricted free agents barring new deals, the Giants seem to have found themselves in quite the pickle.
That’s especially the case when noting that Jones reportedly changed his agent representation from the firm CAA to Athletes First. Why? He apparently wants a ludicrous amount of money for a quarterback with really only one quality season under their belt.
What does this all mean?
More from Pro Football Talk:
“So what does Jones want? There are two possibilities. One, he’s willing to do a deal for less than CAA was willing to accept. Two, he wants more than CAA was able to get.
As one source explained it, it’s the latter. Jones wants more than the Giants have offered. Possibly as much as $45 million per year, or more.”
Why would a potential minimum of $45 million be such an absurd average annual value (AAV) for Jones? According to Over The Cap, that’s the same money Patrick Mahomes gets compensated yearly — you know, the league MVP and Super Bowl MVP. Unless you’re a beyond-devout Giants fan, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who believes Jones’ play is worth the same money as Mahomes.
Beyond comparing him to his peers, giving Jones such an extravagant contract would likely end Barkley’s tenure. It’s one thing to finesse other deals around and fit Jones into the picture when you have just under $47 million in cap space. It’s an entirely different and probably untenable task to do it and keep a tailback like Barkley — you know, someone who is actually elite at their position.
This is why the Giants seem poised to use their one franchise tag on Jones, which would pay him just over $32 million in 2023. (That’s still a top-11 salary!). Given the initial assumption that New York would use its tag on Barkley before a Mar. 7 deadline, this is where the door opens on a special multipurpose RB hitting the open market and no longer wearing the famous Big Blue helmet.
I have to ask: where did pro football powers that be go wrong with QBs?
How did it get to a point where non-elite signal-callers like Jones — even if the Giants believe he can eventually be a franchise guy — garner finances that could push out real difference-makers like Barkley? Does anyone have a legitimate solution here, like, say, a QB salary cap? Or are teams just going to have to break the bank for anyone even remotely competent simply because they play the most critical position?
None of this seems sustainable, and I think I can safely guess the Giants aren’t pleased with having to potentially choose between Jones or Barkley, who made his QB’s life a lot easier.
There will come the point where the league has a needed blast back to reality about QB salaries. Maybe Jones’ situation with Barkley is finally the tipping point.
