New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones once again has found himself needing to prove he is worthy of being the franchise quarterback. After a rough 2023 season that not only saw him struggle on the field but deal with numerous injuries including a torn ACL, Jones is reportedly “motivated as ever” to make a statement to the Giants.
“Privately, all offseason long, he’s been telling people that he is as motivated as ever before — the negativity, the talk about drafting a quarterback with the sixth overall pick,” The 33rd Team’s Ari Meirov said. “That lit a fire in a player like him and he wants to prove everybody wrong a year after getting that big contract.”
The Giants nearly drafted Jones’ replacement
The Giants were very close to drafting a quarterback at this year’s draft, and reportedly attempted to trade up from the sixth overall pick to the third to draft UNC quarterback Drake Maye. With that being unsuccessful, New York elected to go a different direction, taking arguably the best wide receiver in this year’s draft class in LSU’s Malik Nabers with pick No. 6.
The Giants have put their full trust in Jones, and it is now fully on him to prove that he deserved the four-year, $160 million contract extension he received from the team following the 2022 season. According to Spotrac, Jones currently has the third-highest base salary in the NFL at $35.5 million.
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Jones will have a lot to prove with a revamped group
Jones will have a different look to his offense coming into the 2024 season, with Nabers leading the receiving group following Darren Waller’s retirement earlier this month. The hope is that Jones can find more success with a younger and more athletic group than the ones he has had in the past.
However, because the team is younger and inexperienced, the Giants’ expectations heading into this season are low. Many have them projected to be in the running for the first overall pick and nowhere near playoff contention. 2022 showed a lot of promise being that it was his first under head coach Brian Daboll, and while last season saw a lot of setbacks in that progress, it can all be redone if Jones makes the improvements necessary to lead the team back into the playoffs.