Giants expect Daniel Jones to be starter when healthy
Schoen can't sit back and wait for Jones to be ready. Rookie Tommy DeVito, who has started the Giants' victories the last two weeks, is the only other quarterback under contract for next season. Veteran backup Tyrod Taylor will be a free agent. Which means…
"I think we're going to have to do something on the quarterback, whether it's free agency or the draft," Schoen said. "Just where we are, Tyrod's contract is up, DeVito is obviously under contract, and Daniel, we don't know when he's going to be ready. So, just from an offseason program standpoint, I think that'll be a position that we'll have to look at. There're different avenues – free agency or the draft – but we'll have to address it at some point.
"Those will be offseason decisions. As we go through the offseason, we'll have a little bit better idea of his return to play as he continues the rehab."
The Giants are 4-8 and currently own the sixth overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft. Schoen stuck to the customary general manager's refrain when asked if he might take a quarterback.
"We'll take the best player available," Schoen said. "If the best player available for our team is at a certain position, we'll take it. I mean, we won't shy away from it. That's a ways away; the draft is in April. We're still working through all that and the offseason progress. We have to come up with a plan, like I said, just for the offseason right now. Tommy's the only one – I almost said Danny DeVito – that's under contract. So, we'll look at all different avenues there."
Schoen remains confident that Jones is the Giants' long-term answer at quarterback. In 2022, the first season with Schoen as G.M. and Brian Daboll as coach, Jones led the Giants to nine regular-season victories, plus a triumph in the NFC Wild Card Game in Minnesota. He completed a franchise-record 67.2% of his passes and led the NFL by throwing an interception on just 1.1% of his passes (five in 472 throws).
"I've seen it," Schoen said. "You guys all saw last season. The guy won 10 games. He won a road playoff game for the Giants. You guys saw the preseason. I just think we got punched in the nose early on (this season) and we dug ourselves a hole and we weren't able to get out of it. We're trying to right now, but I still believe in Daniel and the person."
Jones was 1-5 as a starter this season, including the game in which he got hurt in Las Vegas. Prior to that, he missed three games with a neck injury. Jones threw just two touchdown passes – both against Arizona on Sept. 17 – and six interceptions and was sacked 30 times.
"We got off to that rough start," Schoen said. "We had three games in 11 days, there were some injuries after Week 2. On a short week, you're going to play San Francisco without your starting left tackle (Andrew Thomas), starting guard (Ben Bredeson) and Saquon (Barkley). That's a tough task for anybody. You guys have probably seen San Francisco enough this season to know that's a really good defense.
"I think does Daniel wish he could have some throws back or some games back or do some things differently. Probably, but it's a team game. There are 11 guys out there and everybody's got to be on the same page and do their job. So, we've got to continue to build the team. The quarterback position is important, but it's ultimately a team game and it's not all on Daniel by any means."
Schoen said Jones' surgery "went well," but no ACL recovery is an uninterrupted ascent.
"I've seen guys come back in eight months," Schoen said. "I've seen guys – we've got some that still aren't back that had them a year ago. We're probably going to have to pull this kid back. He's a hard worker. He's already in there. I saw him walking across the parking lot this morning holding his crutches in his hands rather than using them. That's the type of kid he is. He's going to work very hard. We've just got to protect him from himself and make sure he's doing things the right way and not overtraining. It's really hard to say (when he'll return), to be honest with you, being in this for as long as I've been in it."
Because of that, the Giants will look closely at all possibilities for next season, including veterans and players coming out of college. Which assures them of…nothing.
"There's always risk," Schoen said. "Look at the past however many years of top 10 quarterbacks. I just went through the 2018 draft and how many of those guys are starters, how many are with different teams. Some are out of the league that were taken in the first round from that draft. It's not a position you can just evaluate on film, I don't believe. You've got to get with these kids, you've got to meet with them, you've got to get around them, you've got to put them on the board. Can they learn? Can they process information? You've got to talk to the people, especially in this market. Bringing a quarterback into this market, I mean, it's not for everybody. Not everybody can handle it.
"But again, it could be a free agent, whatever, we're going to have to address it at some point. We have a UFA here that we could always sign back. There are different ways that we could address the position, but there's no guarantees, as of right now, that Daniel will be ready Week 1. So, that's how you've got to approach it. Who can we bring in that can maybe help us win a couple of games while Daniel gets healthy, or maybe Daniel will be ready Week 1. There're just some unknowns right now, and we'll know as we get closer to free agency where he is in his rehab and how we need to approach the offseason."
