One major domino has fallen with respect to the 2023 QB market already, but plenty of attention remains focused on the Giants and Daniel Jones. Talks at the Combine didn’t result in a contract being finalized, but a breakthrough could still be possible in the very near future. 
Less than 24 hours remain until the franchise tag deadline, meaning the Giants continue to face pressure to ink Jones to a multi-year deal (and by doing so, give themselves the option of using the franchise tag on running back Saquon Barkley). Failing that, Jones will receive the tag to lengthen the negotiating window for both sides, but also ensure that he will be in New York for at least the 2023 campaign.
Jones’ decision to change agents and subsequent increase in contract demands has dominated the storyline in this situation. His asking price (roughly $45MM-per-year) is not believed to be a point to which the Giants are willing to go, though, and the 25-year-old’s performances through 2021 made it an easy decision for the team’s previous regime to decline his fifth-year option. That has left the two parties at something of an impasse, though optimism was said to exist following the weekend’s negotiations.
On that point, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports (via Twitter) that Jones’ representatives have travelled to New Jersey today to continue talks in person with the Giants. That will at least keep open the possibility of a deal being finalized at the eleventh hour. The framework of a possible contract will still likely be heftier than what the team had been hoping for, though.
In an update on where things stand as of the weekend, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano report that Jones’ deal could be four years in length and carry a value of over $160MM. That would be very similar to the one which Derek Carr signed with the Saints earlier today, though a number of differences exist in the two passers’ respective situations. Jones doesn’t have the pedigree of Carr, a four-time Pro Bowler, but the Duke alum is six years younger and took a significant step forward in play last year, the first with Brian Daboll in place as head coach.
Fowler notes that many around the league have been surprised by the degree to which the Giants remain “comfortable” in giving Jones a major second contract. They still have the franchise tag option (which would cost $32.4MM) as a failsafe, of course, but using it would allow Barkley to hit free agency as the top RB…