Daniel Jones is not a $40 million-a-year man. And the Giants are not necessarily committing to him for the long haul.
Pro Football Talk has reported the full structure of the quarterback’s new four-year deal. The big takeaways: The early annual average value reports were a tad inflated (as expected). And if Jones struggles to build on his breakout 2022 season, the Giants can get to an escape hatch relatively quickly.
Jones will get a $36 million signing bonus, according to PFT. His salaries for the next two seasons — $9.5 million this year, $35.5 million next year — are fully guaranteed. And $12 million of his 2025 salary ($30 million) will become fully guaranteed in March 2025.*
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So … the deal is basically a three-year, $112.5 million pact. Or $37.5 million per year. To get to the full payout, Jones would have to collect a scheduled $46 million salary in 2026, none of which is guaranteed. And that is not going to happen; the Giants only put that on the books so Jones’ agents could have the scoop-industrial complex tweet out shiny numbers. Jones will either get cut or receiver another extension by then.
And really, the Giants could dump Jones after two seasons if they want to. They would have to eat $18 million in dead money, according to Over The Cap, but they would save $21.5 million in cap space.
In closing: The hand-wringing about Jones making $40-plus million a year was and remains silly. It’s all voodoo math. His deal is completely in line with what it should be. And the Giants clearly are not as sold on him as they say they are. Because if they were, they would have shifted some guaranteed money deeper and gone for an extra year (at least).
* — PFT corrected its reporting after initially saying Jones’ $12 million of 2025 salary would guarantee in 2024. Which makes it even easier for the Giants to move on after two years.
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James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @jameskratch.