You were giving 5 choices to determine how confident that you were in Daniel Jones moving forward, based on an arbitrary signing value. The supremely confident would pay more than the amount to get him
locked in right now. The very confident would sign him to the assigned value right now. The somewhat confident would wait until a later date to sign. The largest contingent are still in “Wait and see” mode. The last group are apparently not swayed by Jones’ early play, or are still hoping to be bad enough to get Ballard fired.
The results with over 350 votes say:
41% Wait and see
38% Pay the price, but wait a bit
17% Pay the price right now
3% Over pay if needed to lock him in
1% Are not confident in Jones or Ballard.
I noted earlier that I find this a little odd. The sentiment to fire Ballard has been strong for over a year, and present for closer to three years. The main complaint has been the inability to find a franchise QB and an unwillingness to sign higher dollar, or first day free agents. I think that given the current level of play that Jones has shown, he would be a first day free agent, even if an injury happened to make him unavailable for any part of this season, as long as he was healthy for the start of next season. He has simply shown that he has “that” level of play. We have a split of 80% willing to pay him, but later, while only 20% want to lock him up now.
I am not oblivious to the fact that we are only five games in to the season and that he has performed well enough to garner a sweet contract in the past, only to be unable to perform to that level. I also know that he is not the first guy to string a few good games together. The season is long and as more tape on us becomes available, teams may be able to take some things away from him. Those factors would suggest that waiting a bit, might be prudent.
However, signing him now, gives you a solid foundation to what your cap looks like for the foreseeable future. He is currently playing on a one-year, 14 million dollar contract. Just like many in the NFL, he’s one hit away from not making another dime. Some quote injury concerns as a reason for waiting, but some of his missed games were end of season games, with the playoffs out of reach, which could indicate the Giants playing the long game. He played 98% of the snaps for the Giants in his last year and didn’t appear in a game for the Vikings.
Injury, while always a concern, seem less likely in our offense. Our line is keeping him clean and he’s not being asked to carry the football. The top 5 QB’s in the league are widely considered to be: Mahomes (30), Allen (29), Jackson (28), Burrow (28), and Hurts (27). If you think Herbert (27) belongs in that conversation, remember that Jones has one more win than him in the playoffs. Daniel Jones is 28. Heck, he was actually drafted higher than Mahomes, Allen, Jackson, and Hurts, if you put any stock in that.
So, while I agree that leaping right now is scary, it is what has been asked of our GM for some time. I think showing the commitment to someone worthy, builds that trust and gives you a strong possibility to be out of QB purgatory for up to 10 years. I think Jones would warm to the Indiana Jones moniker, if the remaining title turned into something more team oriented. Something like Indiana Jones and the……. I still haven’t heard a good one for that.
One last surprise is that out of the 350 votes, only five took the opportunity to check a box saying that Ballard sucks. It is likely that many just chose the best option for the team, but I have to feel like going into this season, it may have been the top vote getter.
Thanks to all that voted and for the large amount of comments. I like creating content, but I certainly get ideas from your input. I have to end with Teddy KGB. “Pay him…Pay that man his money!”
