NEWSLETTER
With just one day left until NFL teams can place the franchise tag on players, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is switching agents.
The Athletic’s Jordan Raanan reported the switch on Sunday afternoon:
Starting tomorrow, teams can place the franchise tag on players. The window for applying the franchise tag runs from February 21 to March 7.
While Joe Schoen and the Giants made it seem like reaching an agreement on an extension with Daniel Jones was priority No. 1, the agent switch – at this point in the negotiations – makes it seem possible that those negotiations have hit a wall.
According to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, there are two reasons for switching agents at this point. One is that Jones feels he can get more from the Giants under new representation. Florio’s source believes that is the case here.
“So, what does Jones want?” Florio wrote on Sunday night. “There are two possibilities. One, he’s willing to do a deal for less than CAA was willing to accept. Two, he wants more than CAA was able to get. As one source explained, it’s the latter. Jones wants more than the Giants have offered. Possibly as much as $45 million per year, or more.”
Daniel Jones wanting north of $45 million, even after a solid season in 2022, seems like something the Giants (and any other team) would like to avoid. That’s where the likelihood of the franchise tag comes into play.
Schoen and the Giants could place the non-exclusive franchise tag on Jones and pay him $32.416 million next season. Of course, the non-exclusive tag would allow Jones to negotiate with other teams. But unless he finds a team willing to meet his $45 million demand, the Giants would get him for the 2023 season at $32.416 million.
This could lead to a year-to-year franchise tag situation like we previously saw with Kirk Cousins and the Washington Commanders. And unless Jones comes back to earth on his demand or replicates his 2022 success next season and makes the Giants meet his demands, we could be having the same conversation at this point next year.
At which point, the Giants could tag him again — at a 20 percent raise — and pay $38.89 million in 2024. If that were the case, the Giants would likely begin to look for a trade. His 2025 raise under the tag would cost them $56 million.
Still, the Giants could duck Jones’ $45 million demand for the next two years before they even go down that road.
