HEADLINES

Giants To Waive QB Daniel Jones

November 22nd, 2024 at 10:35am CST by Sam Robinson

No ambiguity about Daniel Jones‘ status remains. The Giants are moving on early. Days after benching him, the Giants have agreed to cut their six-year starting quarterback.

Jones requested the release, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. While Jones’ contract will hit waivers, it is highly unlikely he is claimed. As such, a path to free agency exists early. Jones met with John Mara on Friday morning, and the sides reached an agreement to part ways.

“Daniel came to see me this morning and asked if we would release him,” Mara said. “We mutually agreed that would be best for him and the team. Daniel has been a great representative of our organization, first class in every way. His handling of this situation yesterday exemplifies just that.

“We are all disappointed in how things have worked out. We hold Daniel in high regard and have a great appreciation for him. We wish him nothing but the best in the future.”

[RELATED: GM Joe Schoen Expects To Be Back In 2025]

The Giants had demoted Jones from the starter to the third-string level, but Brian Daboll said Wednesday it was uncertain if Jones would even be the QB3. Practice squad addition Tim Boyle took reps ahead of Jones in practice, telegraphing the franchise’s plans for the longtime starter. Jones said Thursday he was processing whether he would stay with the Giants through season’s end.

This sets up an interesting situation, as Jones will be in play to catch on with a team early. This reminds somewhat of the Baker Mayfield path two years ago, with the Rams claiming the QB after his Panthers exit. Mayfield used that Los Angeles stay as a springboard to a Buccaneers opportunity in free agency. Jones, 27, being a near-certainty to not be claimed — as no contract adjustment will reduce his $35.5MM base salary (via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero) — so he will head to free agency soon after. Jones is due $13.81MM in remaining guarantees. A claim would offset that for the Giants, but they are all but certain to take on that number in dead money this year.

As the Giants are slated to eat this additional $13MM-plus in dead money this year, their offseason equation will not change. Due to signing bonus proration, the Giants will eat $22.2MM in dead cap. Because no post-June 1 cut will occur, the team will see that figure hit its 2025 payroll. That marks an interesting facet from this early departure, with the prospect of Jones playing for another team this season obviously the other key prong here.

An emotional Jones addressed Giants media Thursday, reading a prepared statement about his impending exit. The team would have risked being on the hook for an additional $23MM in dead money had Jones suffered a significant injury. The QB being unable to pass a physical by the start of the 2025 league year (March 12) would have triggered that guarantee. Thus, the Giants benched their most talented passer in favor of Tommy DeVito, who is rising from the third-string level to the starter. Drew Lock will back up the 2023 UDFA.

Friday’s news concludes the Jones saga in New York, a story that featured a 2023 re-signing as a pivot point. The Giants had prioritized Jones over Saquon Barkley before free agency last year, agreeing to a four-year, $160MM extension minutes before the franchise tag application deadline. The team then tagged Barkley, setting in motion the six-year running back starter’s exit to Philadelphia. Jones, who received $81MM guaranteed at signing, did not come close to living up to the contract. The Eli Manning successor suffered an ACL tear midway through last season and did not play well before that injury, as another neck injury hampered him prior to that knee malady. While he made it back in time for Week 1 this year, no substantial improvement transpired.

Declining Jones’ fifth-year option shortly after arriving in New York, GM Joe Schoen signed off on the Giants becoming the first team in the option era (2011-present) to pass on a QB’s option and then later re-sign him. In securing that $40MM-per-year payday, Jones then became the first primary starter in that span to average fewer than seven yards per attempt in each of his first five seasons as a starter and then stay with that team for a sixth. The Giants are still showing respect to a player that did not pan out, but they will certainly have a glaring void at the game’s premier position entering 2025.

Schoen attempted to engineer a trade-up to No. 3, offering the Patriots this year’s Giants first- and second-round picks and their first-rounder in 2025. The Pats, who also received an offer from the Vikings, passed and selected Drake Maye — a player both New York and Minnesota coveted. While the Vikings ended up with a quarterback in this class (J.J. McCarthy), Schoen passed. The Giants had the chance to draft McCarthy, Michael Penix Jr. or Bo Nix at No. 6; Schoen chose Malik Nabers. The 2025 QB class is not regarded on the same level as this year’s, making the Giants’ Jones replacement effort more challenging.

Understandably coming out against the Giants’ plan to draft his replacement, Jones submitted sub-average numbers in his sixth season. He finished a 10-game run with eight TD passes, seven INTs while averaging a paltry 6.1 yards per attempt. The Giants slumped to a 2-8 record, with Schoen admitting the team’s 2022 playoff appearance prompted some moves that set the team back in the long term. No 2023 decision proved worse than the Jones re-signing, as a player who drew significant criticism during his rookie contract received a lucrative second chance. While Barkley has displayed All-Pro form with the Eagles, the player the Giants chose — due to positional value, as Barkley’s status as a superior player was never in question — burned them and has both Schoen and Daboll on hot seats, Mara’s October vote of confidence notwithstanding.

Jones threw more than 15 TD passes in a season just once (2019), and the Giants went 24-44-1 with him at the helm. Struggling mightily during Jason Garrett‘s time as OC, Jones did battle back from a season-ending neck injury to lead a rebuilding Giants team to the 2022 divisional round. The dual-threat QB played well to upset the No. 3-seeded Vikings in those playoffs, helping a team devoid of much receiving talent to its first divisional-round cameo since 2011. The Giants did not see Jones build on that form in 2023, prompting the search for a successor this year.

The Duke alum’s struggles aside, there will be interest both next week in free agency and in 2025 — assuming the team that signs Jones inks him to a one-year deal now. A few clubs are playing without their starters, the Cowboys among them. A role as a backup also would offer intrigue, as Jones would be a QB2 upgrade for most teams.

While Sam Darnold looks to have surpassed Jones as a free agent option in 2025, the latter can adjust his standing on the market by showing decent form late this season. Darnold also upped his stock by backing up Brock Purdy last year; Jones will have a chance to choose his next destination soon, potentially allowing him to craft a similar path to the true free agent market come March. A team that signs Jones will hold exclusive negotiating rights with him until the legal tampering period begins March 10.

As for the Giants, they will be able to retain DeVito as an ERFA in March. Lock is playing out a one-year, $5MM deal. With Big Blue choosing DeVito to replace Jones, there appears little chance Lock will be back in 2025.

Losses down the stretch would improve the Giants’ prospects of landing a viable Jones successor, but that mission is incongruent with the Daboll-Schoen regime attempting to convince Mara it should stay on for a fourth year. As Jones will prepare to head elsewhere, these warring agendas will make for a fascinating finish to another disappointing Giants season.

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