Daniel Jones signs a $160 million, four-year contract with the New York Giants

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones signed a new four-year contract on Tuesday after days of hard-fought, down-to-the-wire negotiations, and running back Saquon Barkley received a franchise tag.

The Associated Press was informed by someone with knowledge of the situation that Jones’ agents and the Giants reached a new agreement just minutes before the franchise tag deadline. Because the team had not yet made the deal public, the individual spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The Giants announced that they used their franchise tag on running back Saquon Barkley while Jones was still under contract.

Barkley can negotiate a contract with other teams in addition to the Giants because his tag is nonexclusive. If New York chose not to match any team’s offer, they would receive two first-round draft picks as compensation.

Playing on the tag, the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 draft would earn just over $10 million.

After Jones had a career year and led the team back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016, the deals were made.

At the NFL combine last week, Jones and his new agents met with Giants general manager Joe Schoen and continued to work on the new contract for the past week.

Before the start of the 2022 season, the Giants had refused to accept Jones’ rookie contract’s fifth-year option. On March 15, he was scheduled to become a free agent with no restrictions.

Jones had a breakout season as the sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft, leading New York to a 9-7-1 record. Jones responded by throwing for 3,205 yards, 15 touchdowns, and five interceptions in the offense of new head coach Brian Daboll. By running for a quarterback franchise record 708 yards and seven touchdowns, he added another dimension to the offense.

The Giants won for the first time since 2016 and also beat Minnesota in the wild-card round of the playoffs. They were defeated by the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC semi-final.

The Giants were able to tag Barkley, a free agent with no restrictions, after signing Jones. Barkley ran for 1,312 yards and 10 touchdowns in his best and healthiest season since 2018. He also gained 338 yards by catching 57 passes.

At the beginning of the offseason, the Giants had roughly $46 million in cap space. Julian Love, a safety who also plays leading tackle, offensive linemen Nick Gates and Jon Feliciano, receivers Darius Slayton and Richie James, and long snapper Casey Kreiter are also expected to become unrestricted free agents.