It Might Be Time for a Quarterback Change in New York
Photo Credit: ESPN
With an embarrassing 28-6 Week 1 loss against the Minnesota Vikings, it’s easy to see that the New York Giants have a lot of problems at the moment. Their biggest problem?
The quarterback position. More specifically, Daniel Jones.
New York Giants fans went into the first week of the 2024 NFL regular season with very low expectations for how their team was going to perform. After an offseason where they lost their star running back, Saquon Barkley, and one of their best defensive players, Xavier McKinney, there’s really not much to get excited about when it comes to the Giants. However, nobody could’ve guessed that the team would look as bad as they did against Minnesota.
To give some background context, during the offseason, while New York’s front office was heavily focused on trying to upgrade the team, one guy was still working his way back from injury; Daniel Jones. The now sixth-year quarterback tore his ACL in Week 9 of last season against the Las Vegas Raiders, which would inevitably keep him out for the rest of the year. Despite the fact that it was a serious injury, Jones was “ahead of schedule” in his knee rehab, and would ultimately be named the starting quarterback before training camp even started.
That now looks like a mistake as Jones went 22/42 passing with 186 yards, zero touchdowns, and two interceptions (one of which was returned for a touchdown).
Photo Credit: NFL Network
The sloppy play of Jones would wind up with the Giants offense getting booed off the field on multiple occasions. To go along with that, Jones was booed by “fans” as he was leaving MetLife Stadium on the way to his car, and multiple videos showed a fan burning his jersey in the parking lot of the stadium.
Things are obviously not pretty in the “Big Apple”, especially while Jones remains the starting quarterback. The only thing that makes this situation even worse is when people realize that he is making $40 million this year. Jones’ contract is in the top five for biggest cap hits out of all the contracts in the NFL at the moment, while he is arguably one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the league. After all, Jones has more pick sixes than he does touchdowns for his own team since he signed the contract back in March of 2023. That makes him prone to even more criticism by fans and the national media.
However, it wasn’t Daniel Jones who gave himself that contract. It was Giants General Manager, Joe Schoen, who offered him the four-year, $160 million deal, or better yet, the two-year, $82 million deal. If someone should be held accountable for the amount of money he makes compared to how he plays on the football field, it should be Schoen.
Schoen has to realize that Jones’ contract was a mistake at this point and as a GM, you don’t want to end up “sinking with the ship”. He has to cut ties with Jones, whether he wants to admit it or not. There are two backups behind Jones in Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito who are more than capable of starting games for the Giants. If Schoen, and Head Coach, Brian Daboll, want to help their own job security, they will have to make a change if something isn’t fixed with Jones’ current play.
Image Credit: New York Times
Every excuse has now been used up on Jones. At some point, the offensive line and his weapons can’t take all the blame. The loss against Minnesota showed an offense who was ready to perform, with a quarterback who lacked confidence.
Seeing as Jones is still the starter on this team, he will be the one leading the way on offense in the Giants upcoming game against the Washington Commanders. If he shows more or less the same thing that everyone saw in Week 1, a change is bound to happen. If the Giants remain stay on this downward trajectory, people are going to be fired, that much is clear. It might not be long before the NFL world sees the end of the Daniel Jones era in New York.