Giants Re-Sign Daniel Jones; Franchise Tag for Saquon Barkley

Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones – © USA TODAY Sports

The New York Giants have agreed to contract terms with quarterback Daniel Jones shortly before the 4:00 PM deadline for clubs to designate Franchise or Transition players. The NFL Network is reporting that the deal is a 4-year, $160 million contract with the potential to be worth an additional $35 million. $82 million in guaranteed money reportedly will be paid in the first two years of the deal. Unless re-signed or tagged, Jones would have been an unrestricted free agent on March 15.

With the Giants not needing to use their Franchise tag on Jones, they were able to designate running back Saquon Barkley as their non-exclusive Franchise player. As of this moment, Barkley would count $10.09 million against the 2023 cap. However, the Giants’ press release said that the team and Barkley are still negotiating on a long-term deal.

A non-exclusive franchise player must be offered a one-year contract for the average of the five largest prior year salaries for players at the position or 120 percent of his prior year salary, whichever is greater. A non-exclusive franchise player may negotiate with other NFL teams, but if he signs an offer sheet from another team, the original team has a right to match the terms of that offer, or if it does not match the offer and thus loses the player, is entitled to receive two first-round draft picks as compensation.