After six seasons, the Daniel Jones experiment is finally over. The New York Giants pulled the plug on him as the starting quarterback on Monday, expecting to turn to Tommy DeVito waiting in the wings as they prepare to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at MetLife Stadium off their bye week.
It took a while to reach this juncture. From being a shock No. 6 overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft to fumbling at an astronomical rate early in his career to struggling to adapt to new coordinators and coaches seemingly every other year to having a career-best season in a contract year in 2022 to the struggles of this season, it needed to end.
Jones was 3-13 in 16 starts since signing a shocking four-year, $160 million deal last March. The Giants are 2-8 this season and have dropped five straight games. There is also an injury guarantee to consider within the language of Jones' contract.
But most of all, coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen just needed to try something different. Running Jones out there every week as their starter clearly wasn't working.
So, here we are. The Daniel Jones era in New York has come to a close.
Why did the Giants do this now ... and is Jones done in New York?
The Giants kept losing. And losing. And losing. It was time for some type of change and Jones hasn't played well now for the better part of two seasons. This was the easy move off the bye week, especially considering the skids have been greased for weeks after Daboll benched him four games ago in a 28-3 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles where he felt they needed a "spark."
Schoen said at his bye week press conference this would be a "football decision." Sure, but they had to at least think about the injury guarantee that exists where if Jones were to suffer a serious injury over the final seven weeks it could activate a $23 million injury guarantee for next season. Considering there is a reasonable out in the contract after this season, we have likely seen the last of Daniel Jones in a meaningful role as a Giant. -- Jordan Raanan
What are the short- and long-term realities around Jones' contract for the Giants? How does the injury guarantee work?
Jones has two years remaining on his contract after 2024, with salaries of $30 million in 2025 and $46.5 million in 2026. None of that money is guaranteed at the moment, but $23 million of his 2025 salary is guaranteed against injury. That means if Jones were to suffer an injury that prevented him from being able to pass a physical next March, the Giants would owe him that $23 million whether or not he's on the team. This is the argument for sitting him down now -- to avoid a situation in which he does get hurt, putting the Giants on the hook for that money.
Separate from the injury guarantee, if Jones is on the Giants' roster on the fifth day of the 2025 league year, $12 million of his salary for 2025 becomes fully guaranteed. This would be the argument for cutting him -- even if he's healthy -- before the start of the league year in March. If the Giants were to release Jones after this season and before any of the money becomes guaranteed, they would incur a dead-money salary cap hit of $22.21 million on their 2025 cap as a result of the remaining proration of his signing bonus ... but would owe him no more actual cash. Trading him would incur the same dead-money implications as a release. And designating him as a post-June 1 release (or trading him after June 1) would allow the Giants to spread the dead-money hit out over two years. -- Dan Graziano
What are the implications of this move for coach Brian Daboll and GM Joe Schoen?
They're out of people to blame. They overhauled Daboll's coaching staff leading into this season and the roster is theirs after three years. Daboll even took over playcalling this season after promoting/demoting coordinator Mike Kafka. Yet the Giants still have the 32nd-ranked scoring offense at 15.4 points per game this season. This is an opportunity to show with DeVito, or Drew Lock, that Jones was the primary issue. If the Giants continue to struggle scoring after the quarterback change, Daboll and Schoen will need to take a long, hard look in the mirror. -- Raanan
What are sentiments in the locker room over this move?
The Giants' players have long been supporters of Jones, even if there was some visible frustration from his receivers in recent weeks. Still, they respect the way he works and comports himself. Tight end Daniel Bellinger even said after their latest loss to the Carolina Panthers in Germany that Jones is their guy. "He's our starter. I think he's our leader, our captain. He's the guy we need to be our quarterback," Bellinger said. It will be interesting to see how this plays out considering the respect Jones has earned, while the locker room tries to balancing that with his struggles on the field. -- Raanan
Are the Giants now locked in on taking a quarterback in the 2025 draft? Who are some early names on the radar?
With Jones likely playing elsewhere in 2025, the Giants will indeed be looking for a franchise quarterback in the offseason. ESPN's Football Power Index has New York projected to land the No. 4 overall pick, which would potentially give it the opportunity to take Miami's Cam Ward or Colorado's Shedeur Sanders.
Ward -- my current QB1 ahead of Sanders -- is an electric playmaker who can make throws from all types of arm angles. His ability to create inside and outside of structure stands out, even though it sometimes gets him into trouble. Sanders, on the other hand, is a polished pocket passer who can put the ball wherever he wants. He has an average arm, but his poise, field vision and toughness make him the top pure passer in this class. -- Jordan Reid
