Daniel Jones becomes a free agent after reaching the playoffs with the New York Giants. The quarterback is apparently making absurd salary demands for a contract extension. The Giants should definitely not accept these demands – a commentary.

Quarterback Daniel Jones recently changed his advisor and is reportedly demanding a mega salary in the range of $45 million per season for a contract extension with the New York Giants. What at first glance seems like a staircase joke is probably much more than smoke and mirrors, according to leading NFL insiders.

The player’s thoughts behind such abstruse salary demands remain a mystery considering his performance so far in the world’s biggest football league. 2022 was the 25-year-old’s first season in the NFL after which one can truly say that Jones has justified his position as starting quarterback.

After largely disappointing and not infrequently indisputable performances in the previous three seasons, the Giants quite rightly waived the option for a fifth contract year in the playmaker’s rookie deal before the season.

The shock at the exorbitant salary demands should be on par, accordingly, with the sheer horror among fans and NFL representatives alike that the Giants caused in the 2019 draft when they unexpectedly selected Jones in the first round at number six.

Daniel Jones: comparison to Patrick Mahomes is a cheek

Alarm bells should also be ringing among franchise executives after Jones’ questionable self-assessment on salary. That “Danny Dimes” should now demand a salary in the spheres of Patrick Mahomes and Co. is not only presumptuous, but simply brazen.

The player shouldn’t get a comparable salary at any other franchise either. Desperation QB search or not, Daniel Jones just isn’t that good. Comparing him to the top quarterbacks in the league and paying him accordingly is just megalomaniacal.

And the Giants should know better, too. There’s no way the market is so depleted or the team’s dependence on Jones so great as to justify a contract beyond the $40 million-a-year sound barrier.

New York Giants: Is Daniel Jones even the right quarterback?

More to the point, the franchise should think very carefully about what would be the right move for the best possible alignment under centre for the roster upheaval that is increasingly bearing fruit. Reaching the playoffs last season after years of abstinence in the postseason may not have been a mere slip up, perspective-wise.

But that Jones will inevitably make the leap to contender in the coming years can be confidently denied. The mere difference in quality and the lack of development prospects compared to the MVP calibres at his position are too great.

In this respect, it remains to be seen whether a salary for Jones in the range of 30 million dollars a year would be the right step for the hoped-for path of “Big Blue” back to the top.