Do Carr/Smith contracts help New York Giants in Daniel Jones negotiations?

New York Giants, Daniel Jones

The New York Giants are racing to beat the franchise tag deadline and sign QB Daniel Jones to a contract extension. New York has until 4 p.m. today to use their franchise tag. If no deal is reached with Jones by that time, the Giants will be tagging their QB. Thankfully, the two sides made progress Monday night and remain motivated to get a deal done ahead of the deadline.

In the midst of contract negotiations with Daniel Jones, two of the market’s top free-agent quarterbacks signed new contracts. Derek Carr and Geno Smith both agreed to contracts paying them in excess of $35 million per season on Monday. This price tag is well below Daniel Jones’ outrageous $48 million asking price. The Giants could use Carr and Smith’s respective deals in negotiations with Jones.

New York Giants could use new QB deals to negotiate with Daniel Jones

Derek Carr signed a four-year, $150 million deal with the New Orleans Saints on Monday, netting him an average annual salary of $37.5 million per season. This makes Carr the ninth-highest-paid QB in the NFL.

Geno Smith also agreed to a contract extension with the Seattle Seahawks. Smith will sign a three-year, $105 million contract to stay in Seattle. Smith’s deal has a base value of $25 million per season (three years, $75 million) with $40 million fully guaranteed at signing, but has $30 million in incentives attached to the contract (per Mike Garafolo).

Daniel Jones’ initial asking price was reported at $48 million. The Giants have been negotiating to lower that price tag and the new contracts signed by Derek Carr and Geno Smith might help their case. One could argue that Carr, Smith, and Jones are all of a similar caliber at the quarterback position. The New York Giants could argue that Jones’ deal should place him in the same price range as the other two quarterbacks mentioned.

Some around the league expect the deal between Jones and the Giants to be a four-year deal in excess of $160 million, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. It is possible that Jones’ average annual salary exceeds $40 million per season. That would make Jones one of the nine highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL.

The Giants intend to make Daniel Jones their franchise quarterback and lock him into a long-term extension. But it is highly debatable whether or not Jones deserves to be paid a wage comparable to the likes of Josh Allen ($43M annually) and Patrick Mahomes ($45M annually). When all is said and done, there is a good chance Jones’ deal ties with that of Dak Prescott and Matt Stafford, who both make an average of $40 million flat per season.

Geno Smith and Derek Carr both signed deals underneath that $40 million threshold. Both Smith and Carr were selected for the Pro Bowl in 2022. Daniel Jones has never been selected to the Pro Bowl in his career. The New York Giants should try to keep Daniel Jones’ deal as close to Smith and Carr’s respective deals as possible.