The Giants' 2022 turnaround was nothing short of euphoric, save for the way it ended.
Now, New York takes its first steps toward building on its new bedrock of success. Atop the list is securing the services of quarterback Daniel Jones.
"We'd like Daniel to be here," Giants general manager Joe Schoen said Monday. "Again, he said it yesterday, there's a business side to it, but we feel like Daniel played well this season. He's done everything that we asked him to do.
"Again, there's a business side to it, we haven't went down that road yet. We still got to have our meetings with our staff late in the week and we'll devise an offseason plan. We haven't had those meetings yet, but we would like to have Daniel Jones back."
New York's blissful sprint from a 4-13 afterthought searching for organizational direction to a surprise wild-card winner required a few key developments. First, the Giants had to receive quality play from Jones, who had failed to live up to first-round expectations prior to 2022. Then, they needed at least a couple of his running mates to follow suit.
Jones delivered, posting his best season as a professional in his first year playing under new head coach Brian Daboll. Jones finished with a career-high 67.2 completion percentage, racking up 3,205 passing yards and posting a 15-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Jones added 120 rushes for 708 yards and seven touchdowns, becoming a dual-threat signal-caller who was able to help the Giants return to a level of offensive competence unseen since the final years of Eli Manning's career.
"I don't know if there was necessarily an 'ah ha' moment or anything like that. We've just continued to evaluate him throughout the season and what the coaches were asking him to do, and he was executing the game plans," Schoen said of Jones' improvement. "Dabes and I communicate on a daily basis. Not just Dabes and I, but the offensive staff and what they're asking him to do, and he continued to prove throughout the season. I don't know the exact date or time when we were like, 'Daniel is our guy,' but we're pleased with how he played this season."
As for Jones' teammates, running back Saquon Barkley picked a perfect time to return to his former game-breaking self, finishing with a career-best 1,312 rushing yards and coming one touchdown shy of tying his single-season high of 11. Barkley's resurgence shifted a significant portion of responsibility off Jones' shoulders, allowing the quarterback to play with more freedom.
Barkley's timing was crucial to his future, too. The running back played 2022 on the fifth-year option of his rookie deal, posting a banner season just before hitting free agency.
In a league dominated by the quarterback position, re-signing Jones will be atop the Giants' list of priorities. Barkley could be right behind him in line, although Schoen didn't sound quite as convinced he'll be able to keep both, even if he knows in his heart he'd be overjoyed to do so.
"Again, this is a special team to me. It was my first year," Schoen said. "We'd like to have all the guys back, I really would, but there's a business side to it and there's rules you need to operate under in terms of the salary cap. You know, Saquon, he's a good player, he's a great teammate. I loved getting to know him this season, and he's a guy we would love to have back. It's just, again, we haven't had our end of the season meetings yet."
New York will likely and rightfully dedicate the full strength of its financial resources to retain Jones within reason. Whether there's money left to keep Barkley remains to be seen.
Over the last decade, running back value has decreased on the open market, especially after lucrative contracts given to the likes of Todd Gurley and Devonta Freeman proved to be unwise investments. Barkley's injury history is a valid reason to give the Giants pause, but it will be interesting to see if he attracts a significant offer from another team, provided he tests the market.
It's fair to expect the team to secure Jones, then present Barkley with a competitive offer with the hope he and the Giants come to an agreement before he fields offers from other suitors.
"We're less than 48 hours after that game, so everybody is going to step back, take the emotion out of it," Schoen said. "Evaluate the roster and then again, we got to operate under a salary cap. How are we going to divvy up? How we're going to create the roster. What other priority positions and how we are going to move forward. We would like to have Saquon back if it works out."
Jones' career-best season still doesn't quite stack up with the league's elite quarterbacks, at least not statistically, but it's unfair to evaluate them all against the same set of standards. What is most important to the Giants is the fact Jones digested Daboll's offense and largely executed it as intended.
Whether that means Jones can guide the Giants to a Super Bowl remains to be determined. Two years ago, the Giants couldn't honestly claim as much, not without being laughed out of the room. New York has enough evidence now, though, to at least feel confident about retaining him.
"We're happy Daniel's gonna be here. We're happy he's gonna be here," Schoen said. "Hopefully, we can get something done with his representatives, and that would be the goal: to build the team around him where he could lead us to win a Super Bowl."
