Daniel Jones contract: Path to $45 million follows Kirk Cousins’ footsteps

There’s a clear path for Daniel Jones to get his desired $45 million salary: Follow in the footsteps of Vikings QB Kirk Cousins.

Quarterbacks are getting mighty, mighty greedy, even if they haven’t proven much in the NFL just yet.

Many laughs have been had about the NFL rumors that New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is seeking $45 million per year in his next contract. At this point, $45 million is a steep ask for a quarterback who has shown some promise but won just a single playoff game to this point.

To his credit, Jones took the Giants to the playoffs with very little help on the receiving side. Assuming the Giants — or another team if he happens to end up elsewhere — are able to surround him with more talent, we should expect him to keep improving.

But while the $45 million at first glance appears to be a ludicrous asking price for a player of Jones’s caliber, he won’t be that far from commanding a cost of that much in the open market within a few years, assuming he continues to improve and leading his team to the playoffs.

His path to that figure will have to track with the one Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins took.