Giants Retain Jones and Barkley, Implications for All-22 GMs
ICYMI
If you weren’t expecting Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley to return to Big Blue, then you weren’t listening. In a 3-day succession - following the divisional round loss to the Philadelphia Eagles - Jones, Barkley, and General Manager, Joe Schoen, made it clear that the nucleus of the Giants offense would remain intact.
Saquon Barkley on 1/21/2023:
”I’ve been vocal about how I feel and where I want to be.” Barkley continued, “Everyone knows I’d love to be a Giant for life.”
Daniel Jones on 1/22/2023:
“I love this place, I’ve really enjoyed my time here. I want to be here. I love and respect this organization, the ownership and the guys in this locker room,” Jones said.
Joe Schoen on 1/23/2023:
On Daniel Jones: “We’d like Daniel to be here.” Schoen acknowledged the business side of things but would continue to say, “We felt like Daniel played well this season, he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do.”
On Saquon Barkley: “Saquon’s a good player, a great teammate, I’ve loved getting to know him. He’s a guy who we’d like to have back.”
As these two players look to build upon the team’s success in 2023, let’s take a look at how this will impact your All-22 strategy.
What does this mean for Daniel Jones’ All-22 Value?
Daniel Jones’ 4-year deal paired with Coach of the Year recipient, Brian Daboll, should provide the stability that Jones has never had. Since being drafted in 2019, Jones has had to endure plenty of change:
3 Head Coaches
4 Offensive Coordinators
2 General Managers
Continuous turnover along the OL
Despite these changes, Jones’ PFF grades have been solid and fairly consistent. Jones’ rookie season remains his only season with a PFF grade below 70 (65.5). Daniel’s contract structure provides the Giants with the ability to aggressively pursue key pieces with which to surround the 25-year-old quarterback. After the contract was signed, Schoen would admit, “We have some financial flexibility this year. We’re not shopping for minimum players anymore.”
Jones is an underrated player with a coach that knows how to elevate his play and GM that wants to build around him. While everyone’s laughing at his contract, go and grab him off the scrap heap while you still can.
VERDICT: BUY DANIEL JONES
What does this mean for Saquon Barkley’s All-22 value?
Almost all of the same things that we’ve discussed for Daniel Jones can be said about Saquon Barkley. The big exception, of course, is that Saquon doesn’t have the stability of a long-term deal… yet.
During the bye week last season, Barkley’s agents met with the Giants to have preliminary discussions surrounding a long-term deal. It’s been reported that the 26-year-old star running back’s negotiations have continued into the offseason and were largely dependent upon the outcome of Daniel Jones’ situation. All signs point towards the non-exclusive franchise tag acting as a placeholder for a multi-year deal.
The Giants have some cap space to play with and, considering a few veteran contracts are likely to be restructured, you can expect New York to go shopping with an even bigger budget. It’s hard to imagine interior offensive line and wide receivers aren’t near the top of the shopping list.
Could these additions to the interior offensive line make Saquon’s 85.0 PFF run grade from 2022 a regular occurrence? The Giants haven’t had a respectable group of receivers since Odell Beckham’s last season as a Giant in 2018 - the same season Barkley posted an absurd 86.2 PFF receiving grade as a rookie. If Joe Schoen can rebuild the receiving corp in East Rutherford, might we see Saquon Barkley re-emerge as an elite receiving threat?
VERDICT: HOLD SAQUON BARKLEY
Other A22 Impacts to note
The WIDE RECEIVERS
Towards the end of the 2022 season, Giants’ OC Mike Kafka and HC Brian Daboll began to open up Daniel Jones as a passer. Between the week 13 tie against Washington and the Wild Card victory against Minnesota, Jones’ PFF passing grade never dipped below 67.7 - a passing grade that Jones failed to eclipse in 7 of his previous 12 starts. Now that DJ8 has been paid as a top-10 QB, expect him to be used as such. With a great contract comes great responsibility, a responsibility from which Giants receivers will benefit.
We were all enamored with the emergence of Isaiah Hodgins in 2022. As an undrafted free agent, who was signed from the Buffalo Bills practice squad and flashed as the Giants’ best receiver late in the season, he was easy to cheer for. Hodgins, 24, developed an immediate chemistry with Daniel Jones, which earned him a steady increase in snap counts after joining the team in week 10. In fact, Hodgins had 6 games in which he accumulated over 50 snaps, he recorded a touchdown reception in all of those games but one. Injuries and disappointments led to Hodgins’ first opportunity for significant playing time, he came through with a 76.1 receiving grade and a 76.9 overall PFF grade on the season. Look for Hodgins to build on his progress but be mindful that, as the position group is bolstered, it could mean less playing time for Hodgins.
VERDICT: HOLD ISAIAH HODGINS, BUY WAN’DALE ROBINSON, BUY DAN BELLINGER
The Offensive Line
Look for the Giants to use some of their budgets to protect their investments in Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley. While previous regimes have failed to solidify this unit, expect this offensive line to be an up-and-coming group. In All-22, I always recommended buying into offensive linemen who are surrounded by good pieces. For example:
Kevin Zeitler was the 7th highest-rated guard in 2022 with a PFF grade of 74.7, playing between Tyler Linderbaum (74.6) and Morgan Moses (78.6).
Ethan Pocic was the 3rd highest-rated center in 2022 with a PFF grade of 79.0, playing between Joel Bitionio (87.5) and Wyatt Teller (70.3)
A similar opportunity could present itself in New York. You’ve likely missed the boat on Andrew Thomas but you may want to get your hands on Joshua Ezeudu. When healthy, he was the clear preferred option to line up next to Andrew Thomas at left guard. Look for Ezeudu to have an opportunity to solidify himself in the position, perhaps alongside a new and improved center. The 2022 rookie guard posted just a 46.0 overall PFF grade last season, so Ezeudu won’t be expensive.
Evan Neal’s struggles in 2022 were well documented. PFF graded him at just a 41.7 on the season. Don’t put too much stock into rookie grades - Evan Neal’s in particular. Don’t forget that Evan Neal was asked to switch back from left to right tackle as he entered his first NFL season. Compound this with the fact that he was lined up next to Mark Glowinski, a 30-year-old right guard, who posted just a 56.5 pass blocking grade. Expect Neal to get more comfortable at the right tackle position and expect New York to upgrade at right guard.
VERDICT: BUY EVAN NEAL & JOSHUA EZEUDU
will these contracts affect all-22 positional values?
RUNNING BACK (3.44%)
Don’t expect a significant change in value at running back, at least not yet. While Saquon Barkley has openly expressed that he’s “not interested in resetting the running back market", his multi-year deal is likely to be a top-5 contract at the position. A top-5 contract would provide an increase in the overall earnings at the position but, with earnings increases at other positions - namely quarterback - I still don’t foresee a significant boost in running back value.
Quarterback (9.78%)
While Daniel Jones’ contract may not have a direct impact on this year’s All-22 positional value for quarterbacks, it almost certainly will in the future. It’s important to note that Jones’ $37.5M APY has just set the bar for the middle class of NFL QBs. When contract negotiations begin with the quarterbacks listed below, do you think any of them will settle for less than $37.5M APY?
Jalen Hurts
Joe Burrow
Tua Tagovailoa
Justin Herbert
Trevor Lawrence
If that’s not convincing enough, consider the future NFL salary cap projections; the cap increased from $208.2M in 2022 to $224.8M in 2023, and we expect a $256M cap in 2024 and $282M in 2025.
My advice - hold onto your quarterbacks and, if you don’t have one, get one.
