Business in the NFL is just that — business. Guaranteeing Jones a 2023 salary of $22.4 million was never in the cards. Nothing that happened this offseason was ever going to change that, so general manager Joe Schoen hedged his bets.
If Jones plays well in 2022, the Giants can simply use the franchise tag on him next year. During that time, they’re free to negotiate a long-term deal or just wait another season to see if Jones continues to improve. It’s the best of all worlds.
And just because the Giants declined Jones’ fifth-year option doesn’t mean their faith in him is all smoke and mirrors. And that’s something Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner wants the 24-year-old to keep in mind.
“Everybody wants to get their big deal two years before the contract is up and wants teams to commit to them for next decade, but it doesn’t work that way,” Warner told the New York Daily News. “Daniel has to be realistic and say ‘You know what? I haven’t played at that level to say I’m a franchise guy yet.’
“It doesn’t mean he can’t. The lack of weapons around him could be a reason for why he hasn’t yet. And it doesn’t mean the Giants don’t believe in you. It doesn’t mean they don’t want you to be that franchise quarterback. But the money at that position is crazy.”
The Giants have undeniably done Jones a disservice, especially over the previous two years. His offensive line has been among the worst in football, while the rushing attack hasn’t been much better. The receivers have been among the league leaders in dropped passes and near the bottom in separation. Do we even dare talk about the injuries?
Still, the clock is ticking on Jones. Sometimes you’re dealt a bad hand and over the past two seasons, he hasn’t played it well.
In 2022, that excuse will no longer hold water.
“I think it was the right thing to do by the organization and in accordance with how Daniel has played to this point,” Warner added. “But I don’t think it’s contradictory to what the Giants are saying. They’re saying we’re going to put a team around him and create an infrastructure so he has the chance to show us what he’s going to be. And if he does, we’re gonna sign him to that deal.
“But he hasn’t shown us yet.”
Luckily for Jones, Giants head coach Brian Daboll intends to take the leash off him this year. He wants Jones to be aggressive and not fear making mistakes. It’s the same sort of approach that made Eli Manning a dominant quarterback under Kevin Gilbride.
“You’re never gonna be a great team or compete for a championship if you’re gonna keep a leash on your quarterback, if he doesn’t do what’s needed to compete with the best in the league,” Warner said. “That’s the approach you have to take with Daniel is ‘show us. We want you to be that guy, now it’s time to do your part and be that guy.’ If you continue to keep handcuffs on him, then you’re just saying he’s not that guy.”
The new Giants regime is making the right decisions and they’re finally giving Jones his best chance of success. The rest, as they say, is on him.
WWE has announced additional matches for Friday Night SmackDown as two singles matches have been added to the card.
Xavier Woods vs. Butch and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn were announced this afternoon on WWE’s website.
When Nakamura attempted to call out Roman Reigns for his attack several weeks ago, Zayn came out instead as he was out to prove he can be an asset to The Bloodline. Zayn recently beat Nakamura with a Helluva Kick to earn a count-out victory.
Last week on SmackDown, Butch earned a win over Kofi Kingston. Woods has two wins thus far over Butch.
The show is being built around the winner take all title unification bout between Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro and SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos, a match that was originally slated to take place at WrestleMania Backlash. WWE may have spoiled the result of the match on social media.
While away from in-ring action, he has been working behind the scenes in AEW and is part of the development team for AEW’s upcoming video game. Despite rumblings that he could be close to making a return, that’s not the case.
The Young Bucks recently teased that when Omega is healthy he would return and face Vikingo. Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that “there isn’t even close to a date set for Omega to return.” He added that the third AAA TripleMania event isn’t until October and if Omega is healthy then this was a match he personally asked for.
Vikingo won the vacant AAA Mega Championship after Omega vacated the title at the end of 2021.
Omega previously stated that he hoped to be back in action by February, but admitted at the time that he was a little too optimistic and that turned out to be the case.
This week on “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy,” Hardy discussed the relationship between Bray Wyatt and Vince McMahon, as well as Bray’s overall creativity.
Matt Hardy explaining the relationship between Bray Wyatt and Vince McMahon:
“Windham (Bray Wyatt) has always had a very strange relationship with Vince, very strange, like, I almost felt like Vince looked at him like a son in some ways,” Hardy said.
“When he would do things that he liked, he would love him and he would really give him everything that he could possibly give him. He would bend over backwards to try and accommodate him. But then when he did something he didn’t like, he hated, like he was going to lock him away for good.”
“It was almost like a really weird, a really strange and different duality that Vince shared with Bray. When he liked him or loved him, he was all about him. But when he disliked him, oh my god, it was really bad and he would like punish him and insult him. To me, it was so strange. It was almost like a parent.”
Matt talking about the creativeness of Bray Wyatt:
“He’s just an out of the box thinker. He’s also a very interesting person. Some of the material that he reads and studies is stuff that is just really out of the blue, things that you wouldn’t expect.”
“He’s a very well versed and educated person and he has a lot of interests. I feel like that makes him overly creative in many ways. His thought process of trying to do things new and differently is very unique and very special just to himself. Not a lot of people think like he does. He’s very unique and it really is a very special talent and gift that he has when it comes to being creative.”
