Daniel Jones reportedly wants how much?!
According to a report from Pro Football Talk on Monday, New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is asking for “possibly as much” as $45 million per year in a new deal.
Update: #Giants QB Daniel Jones wants more than New York has offered him. Possibly as much as $45 million per year, or more. A source tells Mike Florio.
Jones has recently switched agents, from CAA to Athletes First. pic.twitter.com/HGhG3B1V2h
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 20, 2023
The sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft did not have his fifth-year option picked up prior to the 2022 season, meaning Jones can hit free agency after, arguably, the best season of his career.
But it wasn’t really that successful in terms of quarterbacks earning big contracts.
The Giants went 9-6-1 with Jones under center and snuck into the playoffs. New York beat Minnesota in the wild card round but then got stomped by the Eagles in the divisional round.
The 25-year-old quarterback’s stat line looks like something out of the 80s or 90s minus the astronomical interceptions quarterbacks put up in those days. Jones threw for a career high 3,205 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions while completing 67.2 percent of his passes.
That’s supposedly grounds to start negotiations for a new contract at up to $45 million per year. Let’s say he gets something like $40 million annually. What would that mean for Kirk Cousins’ price tag?
Cousins just led the Vikings to a 13-4 record, the NFC North title and even his worst seasons pack way more of a statistical punch than Jones did in 2022. Cousins’ cap hit is set to be $36 million next season, the final year of his deal.
Jones making more than Cousins could “complicate things for the Vikings,” according to Purple Insider’s Matthew Coller.
“I think in an ideal world the Vikings would like to sign Cousins to a short-term deal that would allow them at some point, whether it’s this year or next year, draft the quarterback of the future,” Coller said.
The Vikings have a roster that, despite the 13-4 season, is in need of an overhaul with aging stars on big contracts and 14 free agents littering the roster. That’s why deferring money down the road with Cousins makes sense for the immediate future but clouds the cap situation in 2024 and beyond.
“It wouldn’t be a shock if they end up at some sort of impasse,” said Coller of Cousins and the Vikings. “Remember in Washington that’s what happened with Kirk Cousins and that franchise, and he ultimately ended up hitting free agency.”
“I think there’s probably different things at play for the Vikings and Kirk Cousins and how this plays out,” he continued. “It will be very interesting and will, kind of, shape the direction at the quarterback position for this team for years to come.”
