The franchise tag window opens today in the NFL, and there is arguably no team that this is more relevant to than the New York Giants because of Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley being free agents. The franchise tag values are as seen below:

As of right now, the Giants are still negotiating long-term contracts with both of those players, but they have not been able to reach an agreement with either of them. Both players would be looking for a larger yearly salary than the franchise tag value you see above, but there is still incentive for general manager Joe Schoen to get long-term deals done with both of them.

The reason why is a long-term deal give Joe Schoen more flexibility with cap space by structuring a contract in specific ways. With the franchise tag, the number you see above is simply the cap hit, and there is nothing the Giants can do to change that.

Although Daniel Jones is looking for more money per year in a long-term deal than the franchise tag would pay him, the Giants would likely be able to structure the contract in a way so it is less of a cap hit than the franchise tag in 2023. That would allow the Giants more flexibility to bolster their roster around Jones, who had the best year of his career under Brian Daboll in 2022.

The same thing could be said for Saquon Barkley, who had the best season since his rookie year under Brian Daboll. The value of about $10.1 million is less than the Giants reportedly offered Barkley, but the flexibility that a long-term deal would provide is potentially more advantageous for the Giants.

The tag window runs until March 7, according to Jordan Raanan of ESPN, so the Giants likely want to get a long-term deal done with at least one of Jones and Barkley.