Be warned, Daniel Jones.
The risks outweigh the potential reward.
A reward that definitely wouldn’t be guaranteed.
Because the Giants and Jones proceed negotiations over a long-term contract, there stays a spot between the $35 million-per-season range the Giants would favor and the $40-million-plus-per-season range Jones desires.
The 2 sides have until March 7 to come back to an agreement; otherwise the Giants will use the franchise tag to maintain Jones off the open market. Though Jones and the Giants could then proceed negotiating, if a deal isn’t reached by March 7, what are the percentages they’ll find common ground afterward?
No, Jones shouldn’t just accept regardless of the Giants offer him. But when he’s insistent on his price tag and decides to play things out on the franchise tag, he can be inviting significant, and unwise, risks and uncertainty into his profession.
The Giants would favor a five-year deal to opened up and reduce Jones’ salary-cap hit. If Jones compromises on the Giants’ preferred $35 million-a-year range, that may result in a five-year, $175 million contract.
Amid the growing trend of quarterbacks and other star players getting increasingly more of their contracts guaranteed, Jones would likely get $80 million-$100 million, if no more, guaranteed in the deal no matter injuries or performance.
If he decides to play on the tag, Jones can have just $32.4 million guaranteed to him for next season.
Is the difference of around $5 million-per-season price risking the likely difference of $50 million or more he’d be guaranteed to earn?
If Jones is confident enough in his abilities to carry out for what he wants, he must be convinced that one other team actually would offer him that if he were to eventually hit the open market.
Though the Giants seemingly could be willing to increase themselves a bit for Jones after what he did last season, do other teams see him as a $40 million-$45 million-a-year player?
Currently, it’s difficult to argue Jones deserves to make that in comparison with the opposite quarterbacks in that range (Dak Prescott, Matt Stafford and Josh Allen, to call a couple of). He doesn’t have an identical track record of success and hasn’t matched their statistical outputs.
Matching his career-best performance from this past season or — if he desires to command even more cash than is being offered — improving on it in what could be a second straight prove-it campaign seems too big a raffle to risk long-term financial security, no matter how confident he’s in himself.
Yes, other athletes have taken that risk and bet on themselves — most recently the Yankees’ Aaron Judge — and gone on to dramatically increase the salary they were offered before the season.
Is that a wise bet for Jones?
Playing on the tag effectively would also hurt his possibilities for that improved performance he’d must money in.
The Giants enter the offseason with barely lower than $50 million in cap space. Jones’ entire $32.4 million tag number would count against the cap — taking on greater than half of what they’d find a way to spend to fill myriad holes.
On a long-term deal, the cap hit likely could be reduced by greater than half.
So, if he plays on the franchise tag, Jones might need to say goodbye to best friend and co-star Saquon Barkley, who can be negotiating with the Giants for a long-term deal. You too can assume it will inhibit the Giants from providing Jones needed improvements at receiver and offensive line.
Banking on yourself to provide improved numbers with the identical, or possibly even worse, weapons/teammates around you? That’s asking rather a lot, especially only a 12 months after it was unclear Jones could even be a starting quarterback in the league.
And after eight of the Giants’ nine regular-season wins got here by one rating or less, would anybody be surprised if a couple of of those went the opposite way next 12 months and the Giants have a worse record next 12 months in the loaded NFC East, especially in the event that they’re hampered from meaningfully retooling?
How might that affect Jones’ attractiveness and potential suitors, or how the Giants view their quarterback needs?
Beyond performance, Jones’ biggest Achilles’ heel throughout his profession — outside of early-career turnover problems — has been injuries, which forced him to miss significant time in each of his first three seasons. Though he needed to battle an early ankle sprain, Jones just accomplished his first fully healthy season.
Would one other team, and even the Giants, really be comfortable shelling out what Jones desires if he were to miss quite a lot of time again? And as a quarterback whose running prowess is an enormous a part of his effectiveness, Jones is at an increased risk of injury.
Off the sphere, Jones risks losing a number of the goodwill he’s built with Giants fans and team brass. It’s clear general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll hold high opinions of Jones and need him as their quarterback of the long run, but after a tense offseason and whatever 2023 brings, could they be swayed by other options, either via the draft or free agency?
Would Jones must prove his price to them once more, or perhaps start pressing toward pursuing that cause?
Jones doesn’t need to take a look at this as his time for his biggest payday.
A five-year deal would make Jones a free agent again at just 30 years old.
Yes, he had a profession 12 months in 2022, but when he takes the chance of declining the Giants’ long-term contract and proves it again this 12 months, the Giants can franchise-tag him again next 12 months and possibly force him to do it a 3rd time.
By compromising, he can allow the Giants to enhance around him, giving himself a greater probability to prove that he’s the variety of player that commands $40 million-$45 million-a-year. He can proceed to develop under Daboll, which did him wonders last 12 months, and further pad his resume.
Then, it’ll be the time to hit his contract home run.
Jones could also be hard-pressed to get the contract he wants straight away. But when he’s willing to compromise, he might get what he wants and more…soon..
Today’s back page
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Numbers to know: Knicks 142, Nets 118
The Knicks rolled to their seventh straight win Wednesday night, this time taking out the crosstown rival Nets, 142-118, with a first-half offensive explosion that turned the sport right into a laugher. Here’s a snapshot of numbers to know from the blue-and-orange party at MSG:
8️⃣1️⃣ Points the Knicks scored in the primary half, their highest total in nearly 15 years
3️⃣0️⃣ Points by Jalen Brunson in that first half, a profession high for a half, en path to ending with 39 on absurd 15-of-18 shooting (5-of-6 from 3, 4-of-4 on free throws) plus six assists.
6️⃣ 3-pointers for Quentin Grimes (on nine attempts) as he began to emerge from a recent shooting slump. The Knicks hit a franchise-record 14 3-pointers in the primary half and a season-high 20 for the sport.
1️⃣ The Knicks (37-27), a season-high 10 games over .500, now trail the Cavaliers (39-26) by only one loss for fourth place in the Eastern Conference, which comes with home-court advantage for a first-round playoff series.
8️⃣ Losses in 10 games for the Nets since their rebuild commenced with the trade of Kyrie Irving. “To provide up 142 points to your crosstown team, that hurts,” Jacque Vaughn said.
— Jonathan Lehman
Return of the Slim Reaper
On the opposite side of the Nets seeing their once-promising season disintegrate into one-sided losses … the Kevin Durant-Suns era is finally underway.
And it comes at a needed time for the Suns.
Three weeks after the Nets dealt the superstar to Phoenix for 4 first-round picks together with Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, Durant made his Suns debut in the course of the team’s 105-91 over the Hornets Wednesday night.
It was Durant’s first on-court motion since Jan. 8, as he had been sidelined on account of a sprained MCL. He finished with 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Easy.
The Suns (34-29) were just 3-3 because the deal before Durant suited up for the primary time. They are actually positioned because the No. 4 seed in the West, with a two-game cushion on the seventh-place Mavericks to avoid the play-in tournament.
The celebrities are shining vivid on Broadway
Please find your seats. It’s showtime.
After a near three-year wait, Patrick Kane takes the ice as a Ranger tonight.
A longtime goal for the Blueshirts, including weeks of rumors this 12 months, the Rangers finally acquired the three-time Stanley Cup winner from the Blackhawks on Tuesday. They sent a conditional 2023 second-round draft pick, a 2025 fourth-rounder and AHL defenseman Andy Welinski to the Blackhawks in return.
As The Post’s Larry Brooks wrote after the deal, Kane delivers the Rangers a star-studded top six and represents a recent Rockstar Rangers era going all-out for a Stanley Cup.
As such, the expectations and pressure on the Rangers have increased, and their success will now be measured in much stricter terms by postseason performance.
As one of the crucial aggressive contenders on the deadline, and after arguably making the most important series of moves of any team in the Stanley Cup hunt, all eyes are actually on the Rangers.
Starting tonight.
Everyone seems to be winning with Ronaldo’s move
Recent league, recent country, recent uniform.
Same Cristiano Ronaldo.
Despite joining Al-Nassr in the the Saudi Skilled League in the center of the season, it’s taken Ronaldo just five games to surge to among the many league’s leading goal scorers. His eight goals are tied for fourth-most and just five behind from the league leader, though he has played in lower than half the quantity of games.
Ronaldo is reportedly earning $75 million per season with Al-Nassr.
The club is currently top of the table and has won 4 of 5 games since Ronaldo joined.
Back in Europe, Manchester United has improved dramatically since its acrimonious split with the club legend in November.
The parting followed Ronaldo’s bombshell interview with Piers Morgan in which he claimed he was “betrayed” by the team and railed against manager Eric Ten Hag.
Man U has risen to 3rd place in the Premier League, and recently won the Carabao Cup. It advanced to the quarterfinals of the FA Cup on Wednesday as well.