PHILADELPHIA — Daniel Jones had just made history in his playoff debut, and one of the most thoughtful voices around, Giants teammate Darius Slayton, was explaining why it came as no surprise. The receiver was at his locker at U.S. Bank Stadium after Jones had beaten the Vikings last week by doing things with his arm and legs that no postseason quarterback had ever done, and Slayton reduced the man and the performance to the most elementary terms.

“One thing you’ve got to understand about Daniel Jones,” Slayton said, “is he tries his very, very hardest to win these games. He does everything in his power to win these games.”

And that was part of the reason Slayton was so distraught over his late third-down drop that put the pending victory at Minnesota in peril. The receiver didn’t just let himself down, he’d let his quarterback down, too.

It didn’t matter in the end. Jones became the first player to deliver at least 300 yards through the air, two passing touchdowns and at least 70 yards rushing in a playoff game while leading the Giants to their first postseason victory since they beat the Patriots 11 years ago in Super Bowl XLVI. The Minnesota defense was dreadful enough to guarantee the firing of its coordinator, Ed Donatell, after it virtually guaranteed that the 6-foot-5 Jones would look like a combination of Cam Newton and John Elway on the field.

When you consider the great two-way threats who have played the position over the years, however, that “Vanilla Vick” masterpiece was one worth celebrating in the days leading up to the Giants’ divisional-round duel against the top-seeded Eagles on Saturday night at the Linc.

As it played out, too much of the conversation this past week revolved around how much money Jones made for himself in that game, given that his employer’s (erroneous) springtime decision to decline his fifth-year, $22.4 million option has made him a pending free agent, and a desirable one at that. Would Jones get more than $30 million a pop? More than $35 million a pop? More than $40 million a pop?

Hey, more power to him. Every athlete should take whatever the market will give him, especially in this blood sport. If the Giants are forced to slightly overpay Jones, or to overpay him outright, well, there are worse things in the world. Jones mans the most critical position in the sport, by far, for a storied franchise in the country’s biggest media market, and yet he still acts as if he’s that teenage walk-on at Duke trying to nail down his scholarship.

But Jones is a money player who clearly isn’t motivated (at least not primarily) by the money. He was mocked when the Giants drafted him sixth overall in 2019, and written off over his first three years as an injury-prone turnover machine who didn’t read defenses quickly enough. Though Giants co-owner John Mara famously said the franchise had “done everything possible to screw this kid up since he’s been here,” Jones sure deserved his fair share of the blame.

Last summer, he brushed off the declined option, put his head down, and tried adjusting to yet another staff. Slowly, surely, he won over the coaches and the fans by staying healthy and efficient, and by winning games. If the Giants carefully managed Jones early as they leaned on Saquon Barkley and the run game, they’ve asked him to shoulder a much heavier burden of late. The quarterback responded by becoming something of a star.

His journey from bust to fan favorite wasn’t as dramatic as Edwin Diaz’s at Citi Field, but it was close enough. The Mets closer wasn’t chasing his nine-figure contract as much as he was chasing redemption and a shot at a championship, and the same goes for Jones. Nobody gave him anything. Jones just put in long hours and lived the old Ben Hogan line: The secret is in the dirt.

“He’s willing to do whatever it takes,” Barkley said after the Giants clinched their first playoff berth since 2016. “And I can sit here and I can speak on that, but you can go and you can watch it on Sundays. You guys don’t see this but I get here pretty early, and every single time I get here and get up early, there’s a car that’s going to be there before me, and it’s Daniel Jones’. He’s the first one in, last one to leave. He really lives that mentality. …

“He’s tough, a heckuva player, heckuva guy, heckuva teammate. He’s our captain, he’s our leader. When you have that guy at the quarterback position, you believe you can win any game.”

Though the Giants were expected to lose to the Eagles, a team that had positively owned them, they did genuinely believe they could score the upset. More than anyone, Jones gave them that faith.

He has played like the eventual Super Bowl winner that Mara predicted to The Post that he would be.

“Nothing really rattles him,” said his head coach, Brian Daboll.

Jones overcame a lot this year and won something more important than money. Jones won the respect of everyone who cares about Giants football, and nobody could take that away from him Saturday night in Philly — win or lose.