The New York Giants announced Friday that they were granting QB Daniel Jones’ request to be released, determining that it was what was best for Jones and the team moving forward.
“Daniel has been a great representative of our organization, first-class in every way,” owner John Mara said. “His handling of this situation yesterday exemplifies just that. We are all disappointed in how things have worked out.”
The former 6th overall selection out of Duke thus concludes his uneven run with the Giants with a 22-44-1 record, 14,582 passing yards, 70 TDs and 47 INTs. The club announced on Monday that they were benching Jones in favour of Tommy DeVito, signalling a change of direction under centre at MetLife Stadium.
Jones will now go through the waiver process, though it’s unlikely that any teams will put a claim in for him given his remaining term and value on his 4 year $160M contract. Instead, he’ll likely sign on with a team as a free agent after clearing.
“There have been some great times, but of course we all wish there had been more of those,” Jones said in a statement to the media earlier this week. “I take full responsibility for my part in not bringing more wins. Nobody wanted to win more games worse than me and I gave everything I had on the field and in my preparation. Of course, this season has been disappointing for all and of course I wish I could have done more. I’m 100% accountable for my part. I did not play well enough consistently enough to help the team get results.”
“The reality of the NFL is it’s hard to win games. It requires consistent performance for everyone involved. We didn’t do that well enough, so the idea to change something happens and I understand. I love the game, I love being part of the team. I’m excited for the next opportunity. I know there is a lot of good football in front of me, and I’m excited about that.”
As a result, New York will now take on roughly $22.2M in dead cap space in 2025 and will very much be in the market for a new signal caller via either the draft or free agency.
The Giants currently sport a 2-8 record which is tied for the fewest wins in the NFL. If the draft were to take place today, New York would select 3rd overall. Multiple scouting organizations and NFL insiders have linked Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders to the Giants next spring, though the club may need to trade up in order to acquire him.
Since Eli Manning retired following the 2019 NFL campaign, New York has seen a carousel of QBs come through town, none of which have established themselves as franchise quarterbacks for Big Blue. That list includes Jones, Colt McCoy, Mike Glennon, Jake Fromm, Davis Webb, Tommy DeVito, and Tyrod Taylor.
New York is slated to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their first game of the Tommy DeVito era.
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.