NFL Franchise Tag Deadline: Barkley, Giants Reap Benefits of Jones’s Extension

New York sorted out its short-term plans with Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley. Plus, more on the Ravens’ risky Lamar Jackson move and Evan Engram’s raise.

Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley, the NFL’s favorite BFFs, will have plenty to celebrate around Manhattan because the Giants beat the franchise tag deadline Tuesday to essentially ensure their star players are together for at least one more season.

Jones and the Giants agreed to a four-year, $160 million contract extension, paving the way for the team to use the franchise tag on Barkley, which would pay him $10 million for the 2023 season if the Pro Bowl running back and New York don’t agree on a multiyear extension later this offseason.

But before the bottles pop—and there’s plenty to celebrate, especially for Jones, who had the fifth-year option on his rookie deal declined last year—let’s analyze the two moves and why the Giants rushed to pay Jones and what this all means for Barkley and the team in the long run. We’ll also share a few other takeaways from the happenings at the franchise tag deadline around the league.

Here’s are the six players who got franchise tagged Tuesday:

• Lamar Jackson, QB, Ravens
• Saquon Barkley, RB, Giants
• Josh Jacobs, RB, Raiders
• Tony Pollard, RB, Cowboys
• Evan Engram, TE, Jaguars
• Daron Payne, DL, Commanders

Now for the takeaways …

The moves on Tuesday keep Jones and Barkley together for one more season after they featured as one of the NFL’s top offensive tandems a year ago :: Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports

• Credit to Jones and the Giants for meeting in the middle to get this deal done, an indicator of how strong the relationship is between the two sides. Overall, the Giants came out a winner on this deal for the 2023 season because they weren’t forced to take a $32 million cap hit, which would have occurred if Jones played on the non-exclusive franchise tag for quarterbacks this year. Jones’s cap hit for the first year on his new deal is about $19 million, according to NFL Network.

Instead, the Giants tagged Barkley at $10 million and bought themselves more time to come to terms on an extension and possibly lower his cap hit for the season. If Barkley plays on the tag, that’s still a lot less than having Jones on the tag, and $10 million seems about right for a top-tier running back heading into his sixth NFL season, but more on that later.

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The Giants have more to spend to improve the roster around Jones and Barkley during free agency next week, and they can also shift their focus to getting an extension done with defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, which will be easier to do with the franchise quarterback accounted for over the next few seasons.

Now let’s get to Jones’s money. Yes, the Giants overpaid and it was probably tough for them to give him $40 million per year after just one productive season. Also, declining the fifth-year option on his rookie deal was probably the right move at the time, but it backfired and Jones proved to the team he’s worth more than the $22.38 million he would have gotten on the option year.

New York, however, took the right approach in viewing this as a good problem to have. There’s nothing wrong with getting improvements from a former first-round quarterback who developed a promising partnership with the new head coach. The Giants said yes to four years, $160 million because of what Jones might do with Brian Daboll as his coach, and that’s probably why they agreed to the $35 million extra that could come from incentives. The Giants might not have been so accommodating if they had hired a different head coach last year.

Jones also compromised and came down on his initial $45 million per year contract demand, and this extension might be more of a two-year deal with the $82 million guaranteed coming in those years. There’s usually an early out in these lucrative contracts, which most people tend to forget while freaking out about the “up to” total numbers.

Jones will have plenty to prove over the next two years and these financial numbers will likely seem about right after Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Jalen Hurts and Jackson get paid (more on Jackson later).

• As for Barkley, he won’t get to test the market for star running backs next week, and nor will Pollard or Jacobs. But over the next few months before training camp, Barkley will probably push for a multiyear contract that is closer to what Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara and Ezekiel Elliott got, which is between $15 million to $16 million annually.

Barkley likely knows by now it’s going to be tough to reach those financial figures because running backs are devalued. But if Barkley isn’t looking to match those contracts, how far is he willing to come down? The next tier might be the group of Dalvin Cook, Derrick Henry, Nick Chubb and Joe Mixon. All make at least $12 million per year, but some of them might get cut, moved or asked to revise their contracts in the coming weeks.

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This could become the rare reset of a position that goes backward, and who knows if the respective teams for Barkley, Pollard and Jacobs will rush to agree on a multiyear extension. A one-year, $10 million deal for each of these players seems about right for right now.

• The Ravens made a risky move by tagging Jackson with the non-exclusive tag instead of the exclusive tag, which would have prevented teams from negotiating a contract with the star quarterback.

Baltimore has the right to match any offers Jackson might get in the near future, but if the numbers get too high, the team would only receive two first-round picks in a trade, and Jackson is probably worth more than that. But the Ravens knew what they were doing, as Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr explained.

• The franchise tag doesn’t mean Engram has found his long-term home with the Jaguars, but let’s not forget how rocky it went for the former first-round pick during five seasons with the Giants.

He’s wanted in Jacksonville after making the most of the one-year, $9 million contract he signed last free agency, the classic prove-it deal for a talented player with mixed results through their first few years in the NFL. In New York, many expected more from Engram and he didn’t help his cause with drops in crucial situations.

Engram was in need of a fresh start and landed in Jacksonville at the perfect time with a rising franchise quarterback in Trevor Lawrence and a proven coach in Doug Pederson. Engram didn’t have that in New York and flourished in his new surroundings, and now the Jaguars ensured that one of Lawrence’s top targets won’t hit the open market.

Perhaps later this offseason, Jacksonville truly becomes Engram’s long-term home if both sides agree on a multiyear contract extension, and if they don’t, Engram will get another one-year, prove-it deal, but this one would pay him $11.3 million in 2023 under the franchise tag. A nice pay raise for a tight end who helped with the development of Lawrence.

Engram’s story is good to keep in mind with several free agents expected to find new homes next week. Fresh starts can often lead to the best outcomes.

• The Chiefs surprisingly didn’t use the franchise tag on Orlando Brown Jr., and this might be a stretch, but it might say something that the team continues to put off a long-term commitment for Patrick Mahomes’s blindside protector.

Or it could simply mean the Chiefs are optimistic about getting an extension done before free agency opens Monday, or they’re extremely confident about Brown getting a reality check about his value on the open market and will return to the negotiation table. We’ll soon learn how this one will play out.

• The Eagles didn’t show favoritism by applying the franchise tag on one of their many starters scheduled to be free agents next week. This might be a smart approach to this situation.

Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, cornerback James Bradberry and safety C.J Gardner-Johnson might now come at a lower price if they truly want to stay in Philly. The Eagles have shown they have an eye for talent and can quickly replace players, while they focus on getting an extension with Hurts.