The New York Giants could be willing to go to some great lengths to hold onto Daniel Jones.
Mike Lombardi wants to know what other team is pushing them to those lengths.
Jones is a free agent this offseason after positioning himself well with a sharp 2022 campaign. The Giants all but certainly will tag him if they can’t reach an extension with him by Tuesday afternoon, which would have him making $32.416 million next season before hitting free agency again.
Although Jones took a big step last season, his reported desire to make at least $45 million a year turned more than a few heads. Quality quarterbacks are expensive, but a player of Jones’ caliber probably shouldn’t be that expensive.
Lombardi, a former NFL general manager, said on his “GM Shuffle” podcast that he doesn’t know who the competition is that would force the Giants to go that high.
“The only way these deals get done is somebody’s got to call the bluff," Lombardi said. "The Giants are just willing to overpay Daniel Jones, like I keep asking who is their competition for Daniel Jones? Who are they competing with at this number? I get if his number is 20 (million) there are a lot of people interested. Maybe at 25 there are a lot of people. ...
“There’s always two deals. There’s a hard number and a soft number. The hard number is what the real cash is, the soft number is what the deal is. … Who is paying Daniel Jones 40 hard? Who is paying that? Who are you competing with? It’s like who were you competing with (Kenny) Golladay? This is how they got into their cap situation before.
“I’ve said this from the beginning: I would franchise (Saquon) Barkley, make him play on the one-year deal, let Daniel Jones go seek his market. But they think Daniel Jones is Eli Manning, they think they’ve got their Eli Manning.”
Lombardi also expressed that the $45 million number getting thrown around might not paint the most accurate picture.
“This is one of these contracts where when it gets announced, don’t react," Lombardi said. "It may get announced that he’s making 43 soft and it’s really 28 hard, then you say OK, that’s a good deal. To me, the Daniel Jones number that we’re hearing may be, in fact, false. But what I’m saying is the key thing in free agency is asking yourself the question who am I competing against?”
Jones actually hitting the market this offseason would be surprising, but he would have suitors if things somehow fell apart with the Giants. His standing among other quarterbacks could change though based on what happens with Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson. Plus, Carr already signing with the Saints got rid of a potential landing spot.
That substantiates Lombardi’s point that the Giants might be best off letting Jones test the market. They would be running the risk of losing him, but the alternative is he looks around, realizes no one will pay him $45 million a year and could return to the Giants at a more palatable number for New York.
That idea works in a vacuum, but Giants are on the rise, and leaving uncertainty at the quarterback position is a big gamble. For that reason, it seems for now they’re more likely to tag and eventually overpay to keep Jones than run any risk of losing him.
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