Giants GM Joe Schoen’s measured support of Daniel Jones leaves door open for change at QB
— New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen opened his bye week news conference Monday morning by making a declaration about quarterback Daniel Jones .
“The expectation is when Daniel’s healthy that he will be our starting quarterback,” Schoen said.
But the rest of Schoen’s comments on the team’s future at quarterback left the door wide open to those plans changing.
Schoen plainly laid out the situation. Jones tore the ACL in his right knee on Nov. 5 and underwent reconstructive surgery on Nov. 22. There are no guarantees Jones will be ready for the start of next season. With No. 2 quarterback Tyrod Taylor set to become an unrestricted free agent, Schoen said he’ll need to address the position this offseason.
“I think we’re going to have to do something on the quarterback, whether it’s free agency or the draft,” Schoen said.
The Giants could re-sign Taylor or add a similar veteran stopgap in free agency to run the offense until Jones is ready. Or they could draft a quarterback , which would have far greater consequences for Jones and the franchise.
It wouldn’t make sense to draft a quarterback in the later rounds since there’s a chance whoever is added will need to start games early next season if Jones isn’t ready. So that means taking a quarterback early in the draft is a possibility.
The Giants are currently projected to have the sixth pick in the draft. That’s the same spot where Jones was picked in the 2019 NFL Draft. It’s one spot ahead of where the Bills took quarterback Josh Allen in the 2018 draft when Schoen was Buffalo’s assistant general manager.
Schoen didn’t rule out taking a quarterback in the first round.
“We’ll take the best player available,” Schoen said.
When the Bills made the franchise-altering decision to draft Allen, Schoen and general manager Brandon Beane emphasized scouting the top quarterback prospects in person. That process made the Bills’ front office confident in the decision to take Allen after trading up twice in the first round.
So it doesn’t seem like a coincidence that Schoen’s itinerary this fall has included trips to watch some of the top quarterback prospects in the 2024 draft class — USC’s Caleb Williams , North Carolina’s Drake Maye , Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy , LSU’s Jayden Daniels and Texas’ Quinn Ewers .
“It’s not a position you can just evaluate on film, I don’t believe,” Schoen said. “You’ve got to get with these kids; you’ve got to meet with them, you’ve got to get around them, and 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.”
Schoen revealed that he “just went through the 2018 draft” and reviewed how many of the four quarterbacks selected in the top 10 are starters, how many are on different teams and how many are out of the league.
It’s interesting that a general manager with a quarterback in the first year of a four-year, $160 million contract recently spent time examining the lone draft in the past 74 years to have four QBs selected in the top 10. But Schoen always left wiggle room in his commitment to Jones. The Giants insisted upon maintaining flexibility in the extension, limiting the guaranteed money to the first two years of the deal.
Jones isn’t going anywhere next season since he has a $35.5 million guaranteed salary in 2024. But the Giants can move on after next season to create $19.4 million in cap savings while eating $22.2 million in dead money on the 2025 cap.
That escape hatch looks prudent now.
Jones’ lengthy injury history now includes a torn ACL and a second neck injury that sidelined him for three games this season. That’s combined with a prior neck injury that cost him six games in 2021, plus ankle and hamstring injuries that caused him to miss time early in his career.
The injuries are alarming, but there’s no discussion in Cincinnati about the Bengals potentially moving on from quarterback Joe Burrow , who has suffered two significant season-ending injuries in four years. That’s because Burrow has been an MVP candidate who has led the Bengals deep into the playoffs in his two healthy seasons.
Jones’ play has been nowhere near that level. He peaked last season with 15 touchdown passes and just five interceptions while leading the Giants to a wild-card round win. But he was off to a dreadful start this season, throwing two touchdown passes and six interceptions while the team went 1-5 in his six starts.
“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,” Schoen said. “There’s 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.”
It would be easier to excuse Jones’ subpar performance if Taylor and undrafted rookie Tommy DeVito , who is signed through next season, hadn’t looked better in similarly adverse situations.
The questions about Jones so soon after extending him have put Schoen and the Giants in a sticky spot, especially as their recent wins have likely removed them from having a pick high enough to land Williams or Maye. So Schoen has to straddle the line of maintaining his commitment to Jones while keeping all options open.
Schoen spoke extensively Monday about continuing the build that he emphasized couldn’t be done “overnight.” But he thought he had a pillar when he committed to Jones eight months ago. Instead, quarterback is now the biggest question for a team facing an uncertain future.
(Photo: Danielle Parhizkaran / USA Today)
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