The Giants over achieved last season, and they would like to run it back with Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley leading the offense, but it could come at an expensive price.
New York and the five-year running back reportedly are on different ends of the pay scale. It reportedly does not want to go above an annual average of $12.5 million, and it has “little interest in having Barkley play the 2023 season on the franchise tag for $10.1 million.”
There hasn’t been a strong history of teams succeeding after paying a running back a large amount of money that goes against your cap, and the Giants have other needs to fill, specifically at wide receiver.
It appears more likely Jones will be the one to receive the franchise tag, especially if New York doesn’t want to make him one of the top highest-paid quarterbacks as his reported price from his representatives would suggest.
They are asking for more than $45 million per year on a multi-year contract extension, according to Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News. The asking price would be $12.6 million more than what general manager Joe Schoen could get if he used the $32.4 million non-exclusive franchise tag on Jones.
The 2024 franchise tag is expected to be worth $37.05 million, so that is an option for the Giants. But they likely will have to decide quickly as Lamar Jackson continues his standstill with the Baltimore Ravens. And Jalen Hurts, Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow are in line for huge contract extensions with the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Chargers and Cincinnati Bengals, respectively.
Schoen could get a deal done early, and as the salary cap rises, Jones’ average annual figure would not be as high as it would be in 2023.
Brian Daboll helped lead the Giants to a playoff win over the Minnesota Vikings last season, and the franchise hopes to have that continued success for years to come. However, there is no guarantee Jones or Barkley could be in for the long haul.
