The Giants designated running back Brandon Jacobs as their franchise player on Friday. The move will guarantee Jacobs, who was set to become a free agent on Feb. 27, $6.6 million for the 2009 season. "With the deadline approaching it was the right business thing to do at this point, although we are hopeful to get a longer term deal hammered out in the near future," general manager Jerry Reese said. "I did speak to Brandon and we had a very good conversation today."