NFL rumors: Daniel Jones contract extension came down to a pinkie swear

The Giants weren’t able to complete the Daniel Jones contract negotiations before the franchise tag deadline. So they let it all ride on a pinkie swear.

Daniel Jones got his new contract from the Giants last week, but it came down to the wire. In the end, getting the deal done required a leap of faith.

Albert Breer reported new details about the process that landed Jones a four-year contract extension worth $160 million.

At one point during the negotiations, Jones’ agents Brian Murphy and Camron Hahn ended up in a pig drawing contest (which is literally what it sounds like).

The two sides eventually agreed in principle on an incentive-laden deal but the franchise tag deadline was just minutes away. The plan had been to put the tag on Jones if a deal wasn’t completed in time. The preference was to tag running back Saquon Barkley instead if a deal did get done.

At that point, technically a contract wasn’t ready to be signed. Jones’ team and the Giants couldn’t possibly iron out all the details before the deadline even though the sides were essentially in agreement.

The end result was a pinkie shake.

Daniel Jones and the Giants need a pinkie shake to get extension finished

“[Giants GM Joe] Schoen suggested they shake on the deal, absent a real contract,” Breer wrote. “Murphy responded that a pinky swear and a hug would be better. So they locked pinkies, and hugged, and the deal was agreed to with four minutes to spare.”

So the Giants put their faith in Jones and his team not screwing them over, tagging Barkley just before the deadline. And the official contract with Jones did get signed.

It may not have been a conventional path to a contract extension but it worked out.

The next step is for Jones to prove he was worthy of $40 million per year in the first place.