They have a deal.
With the clock running down and the deadline in full sight, the Giants and Daniel Jones got it done on Tuesday.
There was never a doubt in the minds of the Giants that Jones would be their starting quarterback for the 2023 season.
They wanted more, though. They wanted him around for the foreseeable future, and now they have him.
Jones and the Giants grinded out an agreement on a four-year deal worth $160 million, with the quarterback able to earn an additional $35 million in incentives.
“I said after the season I love this place,” Jones said. “I’ve really enjoyed my time here and I want to be here. I have great respect for this organization, the Maras, the Tisches, my coaches and teammates.
“I am happy we were able to come to an agreement.”
Jones is guaranteed $82 million over the first two years of the contract and a total of $94 million is practically guaranteed.
His salary cap hit in 2023 should come in around $18.5 million — a much more manageable number than the $32.4 million the franchise tag would have cost the Giants.
With a 4 p.m. cutoff for the Giants to apply the tag on Jones — a scenario neither side wanted — the deal arrived just in time for the Giants to go about their business knowing Jones, 25, has been secured for a price that allows the team salary-cap flexibility.
That flexibility was used to put the non-exclusive franchise tag of $10.1 million on Saquon Barkley.
He can negotiate with other teams, and the Giants retain the right to match any offer. If they decline to match any offer, they would receive two first-round draft picks as compensation.
The Giants, during their bye week in early November, offered Barkley a three-year deal averaging $12.5 million annually, and they are not inclined to go much higher than that.
Barkley does not want to play on the tag, and it remains to be seen whether a compromise can be found.
Negotiations with Jones went down to the wire. In the end, the Giants got their quarterback at a price they could accept, and Jones reached the $40 million annual average he wanted.
He is the ninth NFL quarterback to average at least $40 million per year.
The deal will be met with approval in the Giants’ locker room, where Jones is extremely popular.
“Congrats brudda’’ Barkley tweeted, adding fist pound and heart emojis.
“Nobody more deserving congrats brudda,’’ receiver Darius Slayton, a 2019 draft classmate of Jones, posted on Twitter.
After the Giants met with Jones’ agents from Athletes First several times last week in Indianapolis at the NFL Scouting Combine, enough progress was made for the two sides to meet face-to-face Monday in New Jersey.
Those talks continued into Tuesday, with general manager Joe Schoen and contract negotiator Kevin Abrams, the senior vice president of football operations and strategy, eventually drawing a line in the sand.
It came down to the final minutes before Jones’ camp signed off on the deal.
“We had productive conversations with Daniel and his representatives over the course of the past week or so,” Schoen said. “We are all pleased that we were able to come to an agreement prior to today’s deadline.
“This gives us a greater ability to continue to build our roster.”
For Jones, this is validation. He was a polarizing selection among fans when the Giants took him with the No. 6 overall pick in 2019.
Jones had modest numbers and did not do much winning at Duke, but the Giants’ previous front office liked his physical traits, mental acuity and personal makeup.
Jones was tasked with replacing franchise icon Eli Manning, a seismic shift that hit in Week 3 of Jones’ rookie year.
Jones threw 24 touchdown passes as a rookie, but also had 12 interceptions and lost 16 fumbles.
He went 3-9, 5-9 and 4-7 in his first three years as a starter, playing for two different head coaches in two different offensive systems.
The new decision makers, Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll, arrived with no allegiance to Jones.
Schoen’s first major decision was to decline picking up Jones’ fifth year option — which would have paid Jones $22.5 million in 2023 — making the 2022 season a prove-it challenge.
For the first time, Jones stayed healthy for an entire season and established career highs in completion percentage (67.2), passing yards (3,205), passer rating (92.5), rushing (708) and rushing touchdowns (seven).
He threw just 15 touchdown passes, though. More importantly, Jones showed Daboll he could win games, as the Giants went 9-6-1 in Jones’ 16 starts (he was held out of the season finale).
Jones was sensational in the 31-24 playoff victory at Minnesota before the season came to an end the next week in Philadelphia.
Jones — after playing out his four-year, $25.6 million rookie deal — parted ways with his original agency, CAA, and hired Athletes First for these negotiations.
His initial asking price soared above $45 million per year — it might have reached as high as $48 million — but those were never going to be workable numbers for the Giants.
The Giants owned the leverage of the franchise tag, which would have given Jones no security beyond this season.
Now he has security. The two sides made sure of that.
