Challenged to prove his worth, Daniel Jones has earned his big payday

Daniel Jones remained close with his high school varsity head coach long after he settled in the Big Apple. When Giants skill players rented a lake house north of Charlotte last offseason, assembling near Jones' hometown to bond and practice, Larry McNulty drove up to watch the group run routes at a local field. He follows everything Jones does in football.

"I get up in the morning and look at all the New York Giants stuff that's on my phone. Check and see what's going on. All the latest rumors," McNulty said. "I was just thrilled for him this year. With the coaching change and finally getting some offensive-minded guys in, they found his talents and utilized them."

David Cutcliffe coached Jones at Duke from 2015-18. He retired from the sidelines before the 2022 season, freeing up his Sundays. Cutcliffe watched Jones lead win-sealing drives throughout the fall and the NFL wild-card round. Jones' gutsy sneak on fourth down set up the touchdown plunge from Saquon Barkley that broke a late deadlock and eliminated the Vikings.

"That speaks volumes to the confidence the coaching staff has in him," Cutcliffe said. "Instead of kicking a field goal, you're going for it on fourth down, and you call his number."

That Jones delivered in the situation was a breakthrough. Never disastrous but decidedly subpar over his first three NFL seasons, the quarterback didn't perform to his lofty potential until New York brought in Brian Daboll as head coach. Big Blue went 9-7-1 in Daboll's debut campaign and secured their first playoff victory since their 2011 Super Bowl run.

At 25 years old, Jones is seeking a hefty payday in free agency this month as the Giants weigh whether to apply the franchise tag to him or Barkley. They plan to tag Jones before next Tuesday's deadline if he doesn't sign for multiple years. No matter how they retain him, his breakout in Daboll's system suggests the fit's ideal.

Jones' fourth season certified his dual-threat capability. He pounded in seven of his 12 career rushing touchdowns while leading all passers in interception percentage (1.1%). His rise from 23rd in 2021 to 11th in 2022 in the QB expected points added per play rankings constituted the NFL's fifth-biggest improvement, according to Ben Baldwin's database.

Jones threw less and ran more after Daboll arrived, recording the first six 10-carry games of his career. He finished fifth in QB rushing yards behind Justin Fields, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, and Jalen Hurts. Jones fooled defenders on bootleg keepers, juked or outraced them when he scrambled upfield, and stiff-armed Vikings cornerback Patrick Peterson on his first postseason drive.

A dreary 12-25 as an NFL starter at the outset of the season, Jones laid the foundation in 2022 to keep winning in New York. In separate phone interviews last week, Cutcliffe and McNulty both said they were "tickled to death" about his productive year and what it signifies.

"He's had four different offensive coordinators and four different offenses to learn and manage. Now he's going to go into a second year with the same quarterback coach, the same offensive coordinator, the same head coach, the same offensive philosophy," McNulty said.

"He's always been an accurate thrower. If they can get him a little more protection and maybe one or two quality guys to put the ball in their hands downfield, I think he can advance from what he did this year, no question."

Jones has been known to bloom late. Slight of frame in high school, he fractured his right wrist on the basketball court in Grade 11, which cost him the chance to throw at college showcases and drum up recruiting buzz. Cutcliffe, entertaining a cold call from McNulty, liked Jones' film and persuaded him to walk on at Duke, where he grew to 6-foot-5 and started for three seasons.

The No. 6 pick in 2019, Jones superseded Eli Manning on New York's depth chart by his third game and showed signs of promise as a rookie. Jones put up four single-game passer ratings that exceeded 110 but didn't achieve that again until the Giants' season opener in 2022. In the meantime, Pat Shurmur was fired as head coach and Jones stagnated during Joe Judge's futile two-year tenure.

He excelled in flashes. Jones recorded the NFL's longest QB rush since he entered the league by motoring 80 yards against the Eagles in 2020. It could have gone for 88 yards and a score, but Jones stumbled and fell in the red zone.

Jones missed six weeks with a neck injury in 2021, meaning Jake Fromm was the QB directed to sneak on third-and-9 in the last game Judge coached. Judge and general manager Dave Gettleman were dismissed, Joe Schoen hired Daboll in his first move as GM, and the new regime declined Jones' fifth-year option, teeing up his prove-it season.

Everything changed for Jones this past fall. Recognizing he's a mobile and versatile ball-handler, Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka dialed up play-action plays and designed QB runs at a top-five rate, per PFF.

Jones punished defenses that fixated on Barkley. He completed 74.4% of his passes on play-action snaps. He ran for 57 first downs, third-most among NFL quarterbacks, and got to show off his speed and elusiveness in open space.

"I'll tell you what else Daniel Jones is. I don't want him to get in the habit of doing this in (the NFL), but he's tough. He's going to go get yardage when he has to get it," Cutcliffe said.

"You just can't make a habit of it in that league, or it can shorten your career. People are so physical on defense. But he's a tough individual. That helps you become a better runner."

Daboll optimized Jones as a passer, too, scheming short and intermediate routes that moved the chains despite New York's personnel limitations.

Jones' most explosive wideout, Darius Slayton, ranked 47th in receiving yardage and 86th in catches. The Giants placed 24th in PFF's team pass-blocking grades. Jones was sacked 44 times but extended other plays with his legs and posted the NFL's eighth-best passer rating on dropbacks where he faced pressure, per PFF. He released the ball increasingly fast in the second half of the season.

"I went to the Washington game (which the Giants won 20-12 in December). That ball was in his hands and out of his hand in a blink," McNulty said. "It was nickel and dime, nickel and dime down the field. Control the ball. Keep the other team off the field. It suited him."

Boosted by Barkley's return to Pro Bowl form, New York ranked 15th in scoring in 2022 after finishing 31st in both of Judge's seasons at the wheel. Jones led four separate fourth-quarter comebacks before October ended, powering the Giants to the 6-1 start that made a playoff berth attainable.

Jones' stat line in the wild-card win at Minnesota was historic.

Zac Roper, Jones' offensive coordinator at Duke, called out the quarterback's doubters that night.

There's room for Jones to grow as a passer. A minimal downfield threat in 2022, he ranked 32nd in PFF's big-time throws metric, completing fewer (eight) than Carolina's P.J. Walker did in 531 fewer dropbacks. His average depth of target (6.5 yards) was last among starting QBs. More broadly, the Giants' negative point differential and No. 29 ranking in defensive DVOA at Football Outsiders indicate they're candidates to regress next season.

The Eagles and Cowboys crowd the path to divisional supremacy. That said, most NFC teams lack an elite passer, which could open the door for the Giants to take the next step and vie for Super Bowl appearances if the roster improves. The onus is on Schoen to surround Jones with offensive weapons and enhance his defensive help.

First, Schoen has to retain Jones. The media consensus is that he's a top-15 free agent in this year's class, slotting in behind Lamar Jackson, Geno Smith, and Derek Carr as the fourth-most desirable QB.

Over The Cap's player valuation tool valued Jones' 2022 performance at $31.8 million. Jones would make $32.4 million next season if he plays on the franchise tag. That would erase close to three-quarters of New York's cap space and preclude Schoen from tagging Barkley at the $10.1 million rate for running backs.

Nine quarterbacks command at least $35 million annually on their current contracts. Jones would fit into this cluster if the Giants bet on his continued development and sign him long term.

Manning wants Jones to quarterback the Giants for years to come. The franchise legend told ESPN in January that Jones' poise and production in crunch time last season deserve to be rewarded. Cutcliffe, who happened to coach Manning at Ole Miss two decades ago, foresees that transpiring.

"When you can be a starter someplace for double-digit years in that league, you've done something special," Cutcliffe said. "Daniel Jones, in my opinion, will do that."

McNulty liked what he witnessed when Jones hosted much of the offense to hang and work out. Their team spirit was apparent.

"The camaraderie and the brotherhood those guys had was very, very impressive. A lot of them will tell you that Daniel's leadership was what tied that whole thing together. His teammates have a lot of respect for him," McNulty said.

The coach added, "Nobody in the Giant organization is ever going to have to worry about Daniel Jones. He won't do anything to tarnish the image of the Giants."

Nick Faris is a features writer at theScore.