Dan Pompei of The Athletic caused a stir over the weekend, issuing a report that suggested the New York Giants offered free agent running back Josh Jacobs a massive deal that was subsequently rejected.
Pompei wrote that general manager Joe Schoen had offered Jacobs between $3 million and $4 million more than he ultimately signed for with the Green Bay Packers.
The rejection, Pompei said, was due to New York state taxes, the MetLife Stadium turf, an overbearing media and other issues.
“The Giants came on strong with an offer between $3 million and $4 million more than he eventually accepted. But Jacobs was turned off by the New York taxes, lifestyle, media and the artificial turf at MetLife Stadium,” Pompei wrote.
Ultimately, that didn’t happen.
On Sunday night, Pompei issued a correction to his report, revealing that the Giants never offered Jacobs any kind of deal.
Okay so since this came out, a league source tells me the Giants never made an offer to Jacobs. Apologies for the spikes in blood pressures. And please permit Joe Schoen to see another sunrise. https://t.co/QVc7ACgOon
— Dan Pompei (@danpompei) September 1, 2024
This isn’t to say the Giants didn’t negotiate with Jacobs. He was discussed as a potential option to replace Saquon Barkley, as we saw on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.” However, what’s now clear is that no formal offer was ever made — particularly the massive offer Pompei initially reported.
Had Pompei’s initial account been accurate, it also would have cast a dark shadow over NFL Films and the Giants for omitting such a noteworthy detail from “Hard Knocks.” After all, their appearance on the docuseries has already generated leaguewide criticism as it is.
But no. The Giants did not undervalue Barkley only to overvalue Jacobs. Instead, they settled on a fair market value for Devin Singletary and will enter the regular season using a running back-by-committee approach.
