Giants’ GM Joe Schoen: ‘Would have done 5th-year option’ in 2022 if he thought Daniel Jones was answer at QB

Joe Schoen admitted on Wednesday that when he took the job as New York Giants’ general manager last offseason he did not believe he would be giving Daniel Jones a long-term deal to be the team’s franchise quarterback a year later.

“If I thought I was going to be here a year ago I would have done the fifth-year option,” Schoen said.

Had Schoen picked up that fifth-year option, Jones would be playing 2023 on a one-year $22.4 million deal rather than the four-year, $160 million deal the quarterback signed on Tuesday night.

“I knew from doing work on Daniel coming out of the draft the type of person he was, from everybody in the building the type of person he was, his work ethic. He has all the physical tools, he’s athletic, he can make all the throws.”

Schoen might not have seen it when he was hired in January of 2022, but he said “yeah” on Tuesday when asked if the deal the Giants gave Jones meant the organization thinks they can win a Super Bowl with Jones at quarterback.

“Just the situation he was in, I do think you have to look into that, Year 2 and 3 what he went through. The talent that was around him, the injuries, there was a lot that went into it,” Schoen said.

“Being around Daniel for the last 13 months, seeing him play, the fourth-quarter comebacks, winning a playoff game on the road, there’s a lot of positives. There’s a lot of positives that a 25-year-old young man just displayed throughout the season.”

Schoen has said before that he thinks Jones can get even better, and he reiterated that on Tuesday.

“The upside, I’ve got a lot of belief in our staff and Daniel’s work ethic and their relationship that we’ll continue to grow and Daniel can get better.

“If he’s just at his floor right now I’m really excited about what his ceiling’s going to be.”