Daniel Jones’ future as the New York Giants’ starting quarterback depends solely on his performance on the field, not his $23 million injury guarantee.
General manager Joe Schoen made this clear, stating that the coaching staff and front office will be evaluating everything during the team’s bye week. Schoen spoke with reporters after Tuesday’s practice, which he mentioned was the first one during a bye week in the three seasons under head coach Brian Daboll.
“We’ll start circling up with the coaches (Wednesday) and the rest of the week and see how we can look to turn the ship as we go forward the rest of the season,” Schoen said.
The Giants currently have one of the worst records in the NFL, tied with Jacksonville for the bottom spot. They also have the lowest-scoring offense in the league, averaging just 15.6 points per game. During their current five-game losing streak, they’ve only averaged 13.4 points per game.
Their most recent defeat was a 20-17 overtime loss to Carolina in Germany, where Jones threw for 190 yards, failed to score any touchdowns, was intercepted twice, and ended up with a poor 33.8 quarterback rating.
Daboll did not commit to keeping Jones as the starting quarterback after the bye, and Schoen agreed with that stance. When asked multiple times if a change might be influenced by finances and the guaranteed money that would kick in if Jones were injured, Schoen stressed that all decisions would be based on what helps the team win.
“It will be a football decision,” Schoen said. “Any decisions we make moving forward as we evaluate the roster and what we’re doing for the final seven games will be football decisions.”
The Giants will face Tampa Bay on Nov. 24, and it’s uncertain who will start at quarterback. Jones, Drew Lock, or Tommy DeVito could all be in the running.
Lock was signed as a free agent last offseason, while DeVito played in nine games last year after Jones suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Jones has completed 63.3% of his passes for 2,070 yards, with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions. He is in the second year of a four-year, $160 million contract and is set to earn $30 million in base salary in 2025, with $12 million guaranteed starting on the fifth day of the league season.
As Jones’ future with the franchise becomes more uncertain, both Daboll and Schoen have acknowledged that Jones might not remain the starter in the coming weeks.
“We have seven games left in this season and that’s what we’re focused on,” Schoen said. “I’m focused on 2024 and how we can get better these final seven games.”
Schoen and Daboll are also under pressure, as the Giants sit near the bottom of the standings in their third seasons with the team.
When asked if he expects to be back in 2025, Schoen simply responded, “Yes.” However, when asked to assess Daboll’s performance, Schoen didn’t give a direct endorsement.
“We’re 2-8. So, again, we’re going to look at solutions,” Schoen said. “He’s coming in every day. He’s working hard. The team is staying together.”
“He’s done a really good job, the guys are competing, keeping the locker room together. Again, there’s a lot of things that we can look at and we need to improve on and that’s what we’re going to do the rest of the week.”
