The New York Giants are building their future around Daniel Jones. New York signed the 26-year-old quarterback to a four-year, $160 million contract extension this offseason, solidifying Jones as their franchise quarterback. Such a serious commitment comes with seriously high expectations.
At the NFL’s Annual League Meeting, team co-owner and CEO John Mara expressed his confidence in Jones’ ability to meet those expectations and take the franchise back to the Super Bowl.
New York Giants owner ‘confident’ in Daniel Jones leading team to Super Bowl
Daniel Jones is coming off the best season of his career. In 2022, Jones set career-highs in passing yards (3,205), completion percentage (67.2%), rushing yards (708), and rushing touchdowns (seven), earning himself a lucrative extension.
Now, after locking Jones in for the foreseeable future, the Giants’ main mission is to build the team around their quarterback so that they can see “how high he could climb,” according to John Mara.
“I’m very pleased,” Mara said at the NFL Annual Meeting here (via Giants.com). “It’s the type of individual you want to represent your franchise. He had a terrific year last year. He’s young. And I think if we put the right pieces around him, how high he could climb. So, I was very pleased about that.”
When asked if Jones could climb high enough to earn the Giants another Lombardi Trophy, Mara expressed great confidence in the quarterback’s ability to lead his team all the way to the top of the mountain.
“We’ve very confident in that. Again, we’ve got to put the right pieces around him. He can’t do it all by himself. But I think he showed how good a quarterback he could be this year. And if we can continue to improve our roster, I think there’s no limit as to how well he can play. He has the type of mentality you want, too. He works hard. He’s a great leader. Players really gravitate toward him. So, he’s exactly what you want.”
John Mara when asked if he thinks QB Daniel Jones can take the Giants to the Super Bowl
Daniel Jones earned his contract extension despite having the fifth-year option on his contract declined last offseason. Jones’ inconsistent performances from 2019 to 2021 caused Big Blue to be uncertain about his future with the team. However, Jones’ breakout 2022 campaign made it clear to the top brass that he is their guy.
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Mara explained that midway through the 2022 season it became apparent to him that Jones is the team’s franchise quarterback.
“I had a lot of confidence that he was our guy,” Mara said. “We obviously made the decision not to exercise the fifth-year option (last year). I couldn’t have been more pleased that he played as well as he did. I think it became pretty apparent, by midseason anyway, that he was going to be the guy. You could just see he was playing with more confidence. I think he believed in the offensive system that we had there. And just watching the way the players reacted to him, too, gave us all a lot of confidence that he was the guy.”
Mara spoke to Jones during contract negotiations. “I emphasized to him how much we wanted him here – wanted him to be a Giant – and how I felt it was in his best interest to sign the deal and stay here,” Mara detailed. “We’ve finally going to give you some continuity, which we haven’t been able to do since we drafted you.”
In addition to coaching continuity, Mara also sold Jones on the idea of an upgraded roster around him. “We have a chance to build this roster now and be a successful team, and we want you to be a part of it,” Mara said. “It was a good conversation. And I was very pleased, as I said before, that he ended up signing the deal.”
The future is now for the New York Giants. Having found and extended their franchise quarterback in Daniel Jones, the team bolstered his arsenal of weapons this offseason and is ready to contend in 2023.