What Daniel Jones' new deal means for the New York Giants

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Despite the apparent stalemate that came after seemingly endless daily meetings and dinners at the NFL scouting combine last week, Daniel Jones and the Giants reached an agreement on a megadeal that now keeps the quarterback in New York through 2027.

Sources told ESPN that Jones agreed to a four-year deal worth $160 million with $82 million guaranteed — and another $35 million available in incentives — minutes before Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET deadline to franchise-tag players. The Giants immediately placed the nonexclusive franchise tag on running back Saquon Barkley.

General manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll saw enough during their first season in New York — where Jones played the best football of his career and the team reached the playoffs for the first time since 2016 — that they made the decision to re-sign him. In addition to his 15 touchdown passes, Jones consistently made plays in the fourth quarter and performed best when they needed it most down the stretch and in the postseason.

There have been plenty of doubters since the Giants took Jones at No. 6 in the 2019 NFL draft out of Duke. But when the team owner declared that Jones was "coming into his own" after the Giants clinched a playoff berth in January, this moment seemed inevitable, despite the shocking sticker price.

This was always Schoen's preference. He made it clear at his end-of-season news conference that "Daniel's going to be here," even if it was on the franchise tag. But the tag would have been prohibitive and counted $32.4 million directly against the salary cap. That would have restricted the Giants' ability to put the necessary supporting cast around Jones. The tag was always their backup option.

The price point of