Did New York Giants co-owner John Mara force general manager Joe Schoen to re-sign quarterback Daniel Jones to a four-year, $160 million deal?
Quite simply and quite factually, the answer to that question is no. Mara did not and has not forced Schoen to do anything, and Schoen never would have taken the GM job if that were a possibility.
However, that didn’t stop Fox Sports Radio host Colin Cowherd from making a wildly inaccurate and bogus claim on Monday.
"They should have franchised tagged Daniel Jones. Instead, they're trapped."
— @ColinCowherd explains why Saquon Barkley holds the leverage pic.twitter.com/TPnXEUlGPw
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) June 12, 2023
“The owner of the New York Giants forced his GM and his head coach to saddle up to Daniel Jones at a financial number of $40 million a year,” Cowherd said.
Following that blatantly false claim, Cowherd continued down a path of speculation, offering up his opinion as a matter of fact.
“I can argue [his contract] is double his value. They negotiated against themselves,” Cowherd said. “No one else would have signed Daniel Jones to anything resembling that contract.”
Cowherd continued to argue that Jones is “nothing” without running back Saquon Barkley and that the Giants should have used the franchise tag on DJ instead of Barkley. The problem with that notion is that the running back market is heavily depressed and tagging DJ would have likely meant the end of Barkley in East Rutherford, as Art Stapleton of USA TODAY mapped out.
Stapleton also shot down any notion that Mara forced Jones on Schoen and Daboll, each of whom has been very public with his support of DJ.
Ownership did not force the Jones contract. Schoen has set what he believes is the value he wants to spend on Saquon. Period. Jones doesn't prevent Saquon. If anything, if Jones was tagged, that likely would have forced Saquon elsewhere.
— Art Stapleton (@art_stapleton) June 12, 2023
Had Jones been tagged (at $32.42 million guaranteed), not only would the Giants likely have lost Barkley, they would have been even more crippled by the salary cap than they currently are. That would have led to missing out on players such as linebacker Bobby Okereke, wide receiver Parris Campbell and defensive lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches.
Cowherd is paid to offer wild commentary, but every now and then he goes completely off the rails. Such was the case on Monday when he offered up disinformation without hesitation and no shame.
