Big Blue View
Assessing the decisions, and whether moving on from Jones was feasible earlier
The Daniel Jones’ era as New York Giants franchise quarterback is over. Whether it ends officially this week with Drew Lock or Tommy DeVito announced as the starter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 12, a few weeks from now or in the offseason the time has come for the Giants to take another swing at finding the top-tier franchise quarterback teams need in today’s NFL.
As we concluded our position-by-position bye week look at the state of the Giants’ roster, let’s discuss the decisions by GM Joe Schoen landed the Giants where they are quarterback. We will also delve into where they might be headed.
Current roster: Daniel Jones, Drew Lock, Tommy DeVito
Players drafted since 2022: None
Biggest free agent acquisitions: Tyrod Taylor; Drew Lock
Biggest losses: Tyrod Taylor
A question I have seen often is how did it take the Giants nearly six full seasons to get to the point where they knew they had to move on from Jones?
For the purposes of this discussion, nothing matters before Schoen and Brian Daboll came to the Giants after the 2021 season. The decisions to focus on are the ones Schoen made after he arrived.
Schoen and Brian Daboll weren’t hired to run Jones out of town. They were hired to work with him and make a decision about whether or not the Giants could go forward with him.
For what it’s worth, here are some of the non-Jones options available during the 2022 offseason. Nothing there to get excited about.
Schoen chose not to pick up Jones’ fifth-year option that offseason. While he might have wanted that decision back after Jones had his career-best 2022 season and the Giants made the playoffs, it was the right call at the time.
After that 2022 season, Jones wasn’t going anywhere. Lamar Jackson wasn’t leaving the Baltimore Ravens in free agency, and the Giants weren’t going to be anywhere near position to draft Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, or Anthony Richardson.
The Giants option: Ride with Jones for at least the short term, or let him go and start Tyrod Taylor. Schoen chose the former. Honestly, does anyone think ownership was going to sign off on any other decision after the 2022 season?
Schoen chose to sign Jones to that four-year, $160 million contract rather than use the $32 million franchise tag on him, instead tagging Saquon Barkley for about $11 million. My view has always been that the contract Schoen got Jones to sign, with only two years of guaranteed money, was a best-case scenario as a hedge that Jones would not be the long-term answer.
That was always a two-year ‘prove it’ deal for Jones. He has proven that the Giants need a different answer at the position.
We saw clearly last offseason that Schoen and Daboll were ready to lay the groundwork for turning the page on Jones....
