While discussing during Monday’s PFT Live the contract impasse between the Giants and quarterback Daniel Jones, a question emerged organically and spontaneously.
If you’re the Giants, would you trade Jones for Kirk Cousins, and if you’re the Vikings, would you trade Cousins for Jones?
Chris Simms responded in the moment by basically saying the Giants should want to keep Jones and the Vikings should want to keep Cousins. But here’s the broader question, applicable regardless of current team affiliations. Would you prefer Jones or Cousins?
Simms tweeted (more accurately, someone tweeted for him) a poll question on the issue. Cousins has generated more than 60 percent of the vote. Which is a surprise for many. Jones did well without Justin Jefferson or anyone close to Jefferson in skills and abilities. Also, Jones has the ability to extend plays with his legs, or to justify designed runs in order to keep a defense on its heels.
Yes, Jones had only 3,205 passing yards, while Cousins had 4,547. But Jones had 708 rushing yards, and Cousins had less than 100.
And while Jones had 15 touchdown passes to Cousins’s 29, Jones threw only five interceptions. Cousins threw 14 — one behind the league-leading 15 from Dak Prescott and Davis Mills.
Finally, Jones beat Cousins in his own building in the playoffs.
So while the Giants are better off keeping their guy and the Vikings are betting off keeping theirs, Jones’s overall game better fits today’s NFL, where the best quarterbacks can run the play that’s called, and can make chicken salad on the fly when the play that’s called goes to hell.
Maybe that’s why Jones is looking for more than $45 million per year. Even if he won’t get it, the request isn’t all that ridiculous, given where the game and the market are going. And, frankly, the blowback to his contractual demand may have influenced the outcome to the Jones vs. Cousins poll question.