Daniel Jones didn’t play one game on his new contract before it was tweaked.

The Giants converted $8.42 million of Jones’ base salary into a signing bonus and thus created $6.315 million of salary-cap space, as first reported by ESPN.

Prior to the move, the Giants were just $4.79 million under the cap and only the Buccaneers and Raiders had less breathing room.

It is notable that general manager Joe Schoen opted to restructure the four-year, $160 million contract that Jones signed in March rather than the deals for defensive tackle Leonard Williams or cornerback Adoree Jackson, both of whom were logical candidates.

Williams’ $32.26 million cap hit is the largest in the NFL for any non-quarterback and Jackson’s $19.08 million charge is the second-largest on the team after Jones’ restructure dropped his figure.

Both Williams and Jackson are free agents after the season, so restructuring their deals would’ve pushed dead money into the 2024 cap when the Giants are projected to have $46.8 million in cap space.

Jones’ new cap hit for 2023 is $15.45 million, down from $21.8 million, according to Spotrac.

On the other hand, his numbers in the next three years jumped to $47.1 million, $41.6 million and $58.8 million, respectively.

Perhaps most significantly, if the Giants want to cut ties with Jones after the 2024 season the amount of dead money on the 2025 salary cap just increased from $18 million to $22.2 million.

One of the team advantages of Jones’ mega-extension is that it allows the Giants a reasonable out after two years if it turns out that last season’s breakthrough was a fluke.

Players do not have to agree to the kind of restructure that the Giants arranged.

This way, Jones gets his cash sooner and the Giants free up space because salaries count on one year of the cap whereas signing bonuses are prorated over the life of a contract (up to five years).