Daniel Jones’ days with the New York Giants might be numbered. The team suffered a crushing 20-17 defeat in overtime against the Carolina Panthers in Germany.
The Giants are 2-8 this season — the shouts for getting rid of Jones are getting louder. One NFL analyst suggested a Russell Wilson-like treatment could be Jones’ future.
The Giants Might Take a Page Out of the Broncos’ Playbook for Daniel Jones
The Denver Broncos chose to cut Wilson and take on a massive $85 million dead money charge earlier this year. However, the seeds were sown during the regular season itself as he was benched for the final two games.
This was done to save him from any injury since that would’ve ballooned their dead money. Longtime sports journalist Trey Wingo believes a similar treatment is in store for Jones as he shared his views on X (previously Twitter).
“It sure feel like the Giants are going to do to Daniel Jones what the Broncos did to Russell Wilson. Anything to avoid having to pay that money,” he tweeted.
It sure feel like the @Giants are going to do to Daniel Jones what the @Broncos did to Russell Wilson. Anything to avoid having to pay that money
— trey wingo (@wingoz) November 13, 2024
ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter also shared a similar view during his appearance on the Unsportsmanlike podcast. “I would guess — guess — that we don’t see Daniel Jones play another down for the Giants,” he said.
If the Giants cut Jones in the offseason, they’ll absorb $22.2 million in dead money per the QB’s $160 million contract extension last year.
Giants Head Coach Drops Hints of Benching Jones
Giants head coach Brian Daboll had been a fervent supporter of Jones in the past; however, he is not so sure now. After the loss against the Panthers, the HC agreed that there might be some changes in the future.
“I’d say we got a lot of work to do here in the next few days, in the next week, and we’ll evaluate where we’re at and what we need to do,” Daboll said. He reiterated the need for re-evaluation when the media asked him about the QB situation.
In Jones’ absence, Drew Lock would take the starter position. The team also has fan-favorite Tommy DeVito on their roster who could be given a few snaps.
PFN QB+ Analysis on Daniel Jones
It is tough to envision Daniel Jones starting for the remainder of the 2024 season. However, with no obvious succession plan in place, they may just ride it out for the sake of giving every opportunity to salvage some small trade value.
The sad part is that this will not even be Jones’ worst season as a starting quarterback in his career, with his 2021 season still having a lower QB+ score.
Jones has been pretty much bad at everything, and at this stage in his career, there is not much positive that we can seek. His time as an NFL starter will likely be done after this season, and the numbers throughout his career make it hard to argue anything else.
In Week 10, Jones had a D grade against the Panthers.
Jones posted the 15th-worst performance of any quarterback this season, which was only slightly better than his worst performance of the season. Jones’ low for the season is a D, which was in Week 7 against Philadelphia. This is also the fourth-worst performance of Jones’ career, with two of his bottom four games occurring this season now.
Jones particularly struggled when throwing from a clean pocket, as well as in clutch situations. He finished with a nYPA number of just 4.7, while his 1.6 YAC/Cp was the worst number of the season among qualified quarterbacks so far. After this performance, there have to be questions about Jones’ job security going forward.