The Giants may be wishing they had a time machine to go back and reassess the contract the team handed out to Daniel Jones two years ago.
After the 2022 season, it appeared as though the quarterback could live up to the expectations he had when he was drafted No. 6 overall by the Giants in 2019. He helped New York not only to a playoff appearance with a 9-6-1 record, but also get a postseason win, defeating the Vikings in the wild-card round. His 3,205 yards and 317 completions were a career high, and his five interceptions were a career low. He also smashed his career best with 708 rushing yards and seven TDs on the ground.
While he struggled through his first three years in the NFL, the 2022 season was a pivotal one for Jones. With free agency on the horizon, he played his best football and greatly increased his value on the open market.
There was talk that the Giants would let him walk, but instead, New York handed Jones the money he was looking for, signing him to a massive four-year extension to keep him as the team's franchise quarterback.
Now, the 2022 season looks more like a blip on the radar. Injuries held Jones to just six games in 2023, and the early signs of 2024 show that he isn't the kind of quarterback he flashed two years ago. There is still plenty of season to go, but this upcoming offseason is shaping up for a divorce between Jones and the Giants.
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Here is how New York can get out of the lucrative contract.
Daniel Jones contract details
On the eve of free agency in 2023, the Giants and Jones agreed to a massive four-year, $160 million contract.
The No. 1 issue with the Giants trying to move on from Jones is that the team signed him to a four-year, $160 million contract on the eve of free agency in 2023. The terms of that deal will make it hard for the Giants to trade him without taking on an immense cap hit.
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Below is a look at the year-by-year structure of Jones' deal with the Giants, per Spotrac.com.
| Year | Base salary | Bonuses | Cap hit | Dead cap |
| 2024 | $35,500,000 | $11,605,000 | $47,105,000 | $69,315,000 |
| 2025 | $30,000,000 | $11,605,000 | $41,605,000 | $22,210,000 |
| 2026 | $46,500,000 | $12,105,000 | $58,605,000 | $11,105,000 |
Daniel Jones guaranteed money
Jones' contract isn't fully guaranteed, but it contains within it $81 million in guarantees at signing. That stems from his full $36 million signing bonus and his base salary for both 2023 and 2024, per Spotrac.com.
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Daniel Jones 2024 salary
Jones makes a base salary of $35.5 million in the 2024 season. It takes up roughly 18.7 percent of the league cap for the Giants.
How Giants can get out of Daniel Jones contract
There was talk about the Giants moving on from Jones after the 2023 season, however, the fully guaranteed $35.5 million base salary complicated things. Not only would it cost the Giants to release him while still paying him, but no other team was interested in taking on that kind of money through a trade.
Now, the earliest is likely ahead of the 2025 season. New York can get out of Jones' contract before the fifth day of the 2025 league year when $12 million of Jones' $30 million 2025 base salary is fully guaranteed. That can be done either by cutting him or potentially trading him if there is a suitor interested, which seems unlikely.
The Giants will have $33.315 million of dead money — a salary cap charge for a player no longer on a team's roster — by parting ways with Jones after the 2024 season. New York would save $8.29 million in cap space due to Jones' 2025 cap number being at $41.605 million, an increase from 2024.
