The 160 Million Dollar Regret: Why Daniel Jones Is On His Way Out Of New York

Published: Wednesday, August 28, 2024

by Jack Pine

It is a forgone conclusion that the Giants’ selection of Daniel Jones in 2019 was a mistake. Jones has shown himself to be a less talented version of Eli Manning, with similar turnover issues but less arm talent. The Giants had the chance to select future pro-bowlers instead, such as Josh Hines-Allen or TJ Hockenson. However, they opted to select Jones, who had a losing record at Duke, a school known for a different sport. It’s pretty much common knowledge at this point. It’s worth bringing up now, though, because this could very well be Daniel Jones’ last year with the Giants.

The only positive thing that has happened to the Giants since the drafting of Jones was the 2022 season, when the Giants finished with nine wins and won a playoff game in Minnesota. Unfortunately, this season of brief success probably prevented them from finding any long-term improvement. After the season was over, the Giants awarded Daniel Jones with a four-year, $160 million contract extension. Committing that much money to a player, basically for not screwing up, strained the Giants’ finances. They were unable to make a run at any offensive impact players in free agency, like Jakobi Meyers and Dalton Shultz. 

Jones' individual performance in 2022 improved, with a career-high 3,205 passing yards and a career-low eight turnovers. Even with the improved stat line, Jones was still far from a top-tier quarterback. His average of 200.3 passing yards per game was the lowest of his career. While Jones managed to reduce mistakes, his performance resembled that of a backup quarterback rather than a franchise player. Despite this, New York made him the 10th highest-paid player in the NFL. 

Going into 2024, New York’s quarterback room is among the worst in the NFL. Other than Jones, the Giants have Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito. A former Bronco, Lock was taken in the second round in 2019 but has failed to show any kind of consistency since entering the league. Sound familiar? DeVito was an undrafted free agent in last year’s draft but took over the Big Apple in the middle of the season after Jones suffered a torn ACL. DeVito went 3-3 in his six starts last year but was probably more well known for his mom’s chicken cutlets than his arm talent.

Ahead of the 2022 season, the Giants revamped their front office and coaching staff. They brought in former Buffalo Bills’ assistant general manager Joe Schoen as their senior vice president and general manager. Schoen then hired Brian Daboll, his former colleague in Buffalo, to be the team’s head coach. The goal in mind was to continue the development of Jones and surround him with more talent. They’ve done their job of putting more talent around Jones, but Jones has still shown little to no improvement.

We’ve seen throughout training camp that Jones cannot effectively run an NFL offense. In practices, he has constantly forced throws and missed open receivers. In a pitiful preseason outing against the Texans, Jones threw two messy interceptions, one being a pick-six. He has proven once again that he cannot get on the same page with receivers and cannot avoid making big mistakes. At this point, why stick with Jones? He is a lost cause.

The Giants’ appearance on “Hard Knocks” indicated that the front office and coaching staff are ambivalent about Jones, despite the hefty investment in him. Schoen and Daboll did their research on the top quarterbacks in the 2024 draft and had a plan in place to try and trade up for one of them. They were fully ready to move on from their highest-paid player, but obviously, that never materialized. They knew that Jones, despite the deficiencies on their offensive line (and there were plenty), was the primary source of the Giants’ woes.

It’s entirely possible that Jones’ extension after 2022 happened only because John Mara and Steve Tisch insisted on it. The Giants had just won a playoff game for the first time in 11 years, and they were eager to capitalize on their new-found success. Joe Schoen probably had serious concerns with the extension but was being pushed by ownership to get a deal done. To please both parties, Schoen crafted a deal that seemed very lucrative on paper but also gave him security to get out of the deal without too much of a financial burden.

Jones’ contract is enormous, but not impossible to get out of. After the 2024 season, the Giants can release Jones and take a minimal penalty against their future salary cap, saving over $30 million in the process. This would give them the flexibility to go after a quarterback in next year’s draft or possibly acquire a proven veteran. They need someone who can elevate the performance of people around them, unlike Jones. 

The only problem with this idea is that the 2025 draft class is expected to be thin at the quarterback position, which could present problems. But who knows? Maybe Quinn Ewers or Carson Beck will exceed expectations and win a Heisman. Maybe someone else will surprise the sports world. It seems like that will all work itself out eventually, though. With Daniel Jones at the helm, the Giants are once again primed to have a high draft pick. 

Jack Pine is a Sports Web Editor and Assistant Sports Director at WSOU 89.5
Jack Pine can be reached at john.pine@student.shu.edu. 

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