New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen essentially admitted on Wednesday what everyone already knew: He doubted last year that Daniel Jones would be his long-term answer at quarterback.
Less than 24 hours after it was learned that the Giants and Jones had agreed to a four-year contract potentially worth up to $160M and that includes an additional $35M in incentives, Schoen addressed declining the fifth-year option attached to the signal-caller’s rookie deal last spring.
“If I thought I was going to be here a year ago I would have done that fifth-year option,” Schoen told reporters on Wednesday, according to Connor Hughes of SNY.
Schoen officially accepted the Giants job in January 2022 and had no ties to Jones when he declined the option that, per Dan Duggan of The Athletic, would’ve cost New York around $22.4M for 2023. Jones responded to that decision by producing a career season under first-year head coach Brian Daboll and by helping the Giants earn their first playoff victory in 11 years.
As Audacy’s Jesse Pantuosco pointed out, many were quick to say on Tuesday that the Giants “overpaid” to avoid having to use the franchise tag to retain Jones’ rights for 2023. That was before Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio explained that the Giants “could escape the deal after two years” due to the structure of the agreement.
Either way, Schoen sounded unbothered about the opinions of others regarding his QB1.
“We can’t worry about what people are saying outside the building,” Schoen said Wednesday, as shared by Bob Brookover of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. “All we care about is inside these walls. We have a very talented and experienced coaching staff and a very talented personnel staff and what matters is what we think inside this building. That’s how we’re always going to make decisions. We’re not going to worry about the outside noise.”
Schoen insisted on Wednesday that the front office will “build the team around” Jones and that the 25-year-old can guide the franchise to its first Super Bowl appearance since February 2012.
The executive could’ve saved some money had he felt that way about Jones a year ago, but the fact remains that Schoen and company may only be attached to the 2019 first-round draft pick for two more years depending on what happens between this coming September and January 2025.
