Sometimes, players bet on themselves. Sometimes, teams bet on players. On Thursday, the Giants placed a bet against quarterback Daniel Jones.
By not picking up Jones’s fifth-year option, the Giants have wagered that Jones won’t play well enough to justify a guaranteed salary of $22.83 million in 2023.
As the quarterback market sails past $40 million per year, what’s $22.83 million for another year with Jones? If they truly believed in him, they wouldn’t hesitate to make the commitment.
Consider this comment from co-owner John Mara, made on March 27: “People are realizing it’s by far the most important position in sports and either you have one or you don’t. We think we have one.”
Do they though? If they did, they’d gladly bet on him, not against him.
There’s another angle to consider in this regard. At the Scouting Combine, G.M. Joe Schoen suggested they’d made a decision after getting to know him better. Well, they have. And they decided not to pick up the option.
Bottom line? Next February, they’ll either be upset that they need to use the franchise tag (at roughly $34 million) to keep him or happy that they avoided owing him $22.83 million. The Giants are betting they’ll be happy they avoided the $22.83 million.
In other words, they’ve bet against Daniel Jones.