Why Daniel Jones & Geno Smith shouldn’t chase the bag | You Pod to Win the Game
After successful 2022 campaigns, Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson and Frank Schwab explain why both quarterbacks shouldn’t leave their respective clubs for a hefty pay raise.
Video Transcript
CHARLES ROBINSON: Daniel Jones, we should adjust that. I thought earlier, when they threw-- the $45 million number was out there. That kind of got floated out there as the balloon. I thought, they're saying 45 to get 40, 37, something in that range. I don't know, they might be trying to get 45.
And I'm going to just straight up say bounce. Nope. If the Jets sign him--
FRANK SCHWAB: Gotta walk away from the table.
CHARLES ROBINSON: I would walk. No way.
FRANK SCHWAB: One of these teams is going to say, Daniel Jones has had a good growth season. He does have draft pedigree. He could be on an ascension. He could end up being a top eight quarterback in this league.
It's also possible that he's maxed out at about the 15th to 16th best quarterback in the NFL. And you ain't winning this championship paying the 16th best quarterback in the league $45 million a year. And some teams-- it hasn't happened yet, really, where some team has just said, uh-uh, nope, price tag's too much. We're just going to start the rookie deals over again.
Because again, I think there's a difference between paying an elite guy and paying mediocrity. And I think honestly, the Giants would be paying mediocrity. He's fine. He's perfectly, like, a reasonable quarterback.
He's not a reasonable quarterback at $45 million a year. He's just not. So I think at some point, the Giants are going down a really, really-- like I said, a bad road with him where they're just like, oh, god, what happens next at quarterback?
Well, what happens next at quarterback if you're paying a Daniel Jones $45 million a year? Like, that's not good, either. So I would-- yeah, I'm walking away.
CHARLES ROBINSON: I'm going to give you a really crazy parallel here. The last team to do it with a youngish player, young player still, to go nah, we don't think the arrow's pointed up. We think it's kind of pointed straight. We think he is what he is-- good player, never going to be great player, stat guy, but never going to be a great winner in the playoffs.
It was Kirk Cousins, right? Washington said, nope, we're going to go ahead and not do this. And then Kirk left. And he got a [BLEEP]-ton of money from Minnesota.
There's a chance Daniel Jones, they go nope, not going to do it-- that one of these teams that loses out on the quarterback roulette here, and maybe doesn't like what they see from the rookie class goes, yeah, give him 40. We'll go ahead and give him the Dak deal and see how this goes.
FRANK SCHWAB: Brian Daboll's going to bring out the best in the next quarterback, who you're paying $2 million to on a rookie deal, you know? Go find your Jalen Hurts. Because Brian--
And I said this with Goff. This was a long time ago. If you're the Rams back in the Goff days, you would have said, what's our real asset here? It's Sean McVay. He's going to get the most out of the quarterback.
We don't have to pay Jared Goff $30 million or whatever he got in that era. We could just draft somebody. And McVay's going to get the best of him.
I would think the same way if I'm the Giants. I think, what's our asset here? Is it Daniel Jones, or is it Brian Daboll? I'd say it's Brian Daboll. And he's going to get the most out of whatever quarterback we bring in here.
Bring in a veteran bridge, a rookie who's not really a top 10 pick because you don't have that pick. I would bet on Brian Daboll here and not bet on Daniel Jones being a $45 million a year quarterback.
CHARLES ROBINSON: If they let him go, whoever's going to sign him to a $40 or $45 million deal, I'd be like, can he still Zoom with Brian Daboll? Like, can we cut some kind of a side deal? Can we do one of those Vic Fangio--
FRANK SCHWAB: Consultant. Right, I'd want him to be a consultant.
CHARLES ROBINSON: --can we do one of those Vic Fangio consultant deals, and just get Brian Daboll on with him one hour a day on the Zoom, and maybe keep that going? Yeah, it's wild to me. So it's going to be crazy to see what happens there.
Man, and low key, even Geno-- I thought Geno, 35-- telling you right now, I think Geno's the same situation. They're like, 40? Get him in the 40s, you know?
That's where quarterbacks of-- because they're going to compare him to Dak. And they're going to say, look-- there's going to be some comparative aspects between Geno and Dak. And even if he's not quite Dak, he's close enough.
And the market's risen since Dak signed his deal. So he should get the Dak deal because Dak's deal's old. And even if you would slot him behind Dak, it's a different time. Quarterback money has changed. Geno's a $40 million a year guy. We'll see.
FRANK SCHWAB: I want to say this about both guys-- I think they're both making a mistake if they chase the dollars here. Because Daniel Jones is with a coach who's finally brought out the best in him. Geno Smith is finally in a situation that he can thrive in after waiting and waiting and waiting.
You really going to screw that up to go, what, get $40 million a year versus 36, whatever it is? Daniel Jones, $45 million a year versus 39? I mean, is that really worth it to you?
I get it's a lot of money. But whatever you're going to make is setting you up for the rest of your life. Why don't-- take a step back and realize, I'm in a great situation right here. I don't want to screw this up.
And you could spin this PR-wise where you come off like a hero. Oh, I just want to help the team win. I took a hometown discount, blah, blah, blah.
Don't screw up happiness. Like, if Daniel Jones goes and signs with Washington Commanders for $45 million a year, OK, you got your money. And your career's probably going to go in the toilet because you're with the Commanders. Like, OK, what did you do?
Same with Geno. I think Geno's finally found happiness in a great situation, great situation for him. Why screw that up over what amounts to just-- I'm either going to be mega rich or mega-mega rich. Like, just be mega rich. You're going to be fine.