Takeaways from Daniel Jones's Contract Details

The numbers are in and they're not quite as scary as they might have sounded.

The full details of New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones's four-year, $160 million contract are in thanks to Pro Football Talk, and the deal isn't quite as scary looking as initially thought given the incentives structure.

Giants general manager Joe Schoen confirmed for reporters on Wednesday that Jones got a $36 million signing bonus, and his base salary in 2023 was $9 million ($9.5 million per PFT). The signing bonus prorates over the deal's life at a rate of $9 million per year and was paid at signing.

Here is the layout of the deal by Over the Cap, using the information from PFT.

Over the Cap

Some takeaways...

Jones came out ahead for the first two years of the deal by about $11 million more than if he were to play on the franchise tags this year and next year. Per Over the Cap's franchise tag projections, that total would have come to $74.184 million. Jones will instead collect $82 million over the deal's first two years.

The Giants would save $21 million if they moved on from Jones after 2024 and would be hit with just $18 million in dead money if he's made a standard (pre-June 1) transaction. 

Overall, it looks more like a three-year, $112.5 million deal, making it an average APY of $37.5 million per year, the length and estimated APY range that I figured Jones would fall into at the start of this process.

PFT didn't quantify what Jones must hit to be considered a top-five quarterback, nor did they say what the attainable incentives are “if Jones performs in 2023 as he did in 2022.” 

My guess as to the latter would be touchdowns, low interceptions, and passing yards. I could also see games played being included. Regardless, these are all "likely to be earned" incentives that would hit the current year's cap.

Meanwhile, the top-five quarterback escalator and the postseason wins are all not likely to be earned incentives. If these are achieved, hit the following year's cap. Remember, the difference between an LTBE and NLTBE is that the former is a benchmark the player achieved in the prior season, whereas the latter has yet to be achieved.

For accounting purposes, they are charged differently: the LTBEs come straight out of the cap (but are credited back at the end of the year if the player doesn't reach the incentives), whereas the NLTBEs are either deducted from the following year's cap (if reached) or wiped off the record if not.

I thought it interesting (and creative) that the Giants guaranteed the $500,000 workout bonus in each of the contract's first two years. I can't remember the Giants ever using such a maneuver, but it's a great way to pump more guaranteed money toward a player they know will be in the facility earning the bonus.

And if Jones makes it past those first two seasons, there's no reason to think he won't collect the remaining annual workout bonuses.

The Giants saved $13.4 million by avoiding using the franchise tag on Jones. They could use that savings for the $10 million tag price to retain running back Saquon Barkley; hence, it should be clear why using the tag on Jones wouldn't have been in the team's best interest.

Regarding the 2025 base salary ($30 million), $23 million was guaranteed for injury at signing. That amount would only apply if Jones, who does have an injury history, were to get hurt. If he finishes the 2024 season healthy and the Giants move on from him, the team wouldn't have to pay out that $23 million.

If he is still on the roster, he'll collect that money regardless if he's injured (so long as it's a football-related injury), meaning that if, for example, he ends 2024 with an injury, the Giants can't approach him to lower his salary since the bulk of the P5 amount would be locked in.

The first-year cap hit was adjusted from $19.5 million to $21 million. The likely reason for this could be that some of the performance incentives included in the deal are "likely to be earned" incentives, which would count against the current year's cap. This would include starting and winning at least one playoff game, which Jones accomplished in 2022. 

In all not a horrific deal, and one that gives the Giants a great deal of flexibility depending on how Jones performs over the next couple of seasons.

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