Many are calling for the New York Giants to draft the new quarterback in 2024, but general manager Joe Schoen certainly didn’t reveal his hand during Monday morning’s press conference.
Schoen fielded questions from several angles, but he provided confidence that Jones could bounce back from an ACL tear and return to the quarterback who won 10 games last year and a road playoff game for the Giants.
However, the writing is on the wall — Jones has an out after the 2024 season in his contract, and the Giants could reset the rookie quarterback window with a young passer they can develop.
Anything that Schoen says at this point can’t be taken with too much legitimacy, but he did indicate that Jones will be the starting quarterback when he returns to full health, opening up many doors for what the Giants could do in the future.
“The expectation is that when Daniel (Jones) is healthy he will be our starting quarterback.”
The Giants Have Big Quarterback Decisions Ahead
Schoen focused more on the depth in the quarterback room, but they may have found something in undrafted free-agent rookie Tommy DeVito, who has won two consecutive games.
Both Tyrod Taylor and DeVito have looked good at times. Some may argue that both were better than Jones while he was healthy earlier this season.
The Giants’ $160 million quarterback finished with just 909 passing yards, including two touchdowns and six interceptions. He played five games without throwing a touchdown pass, tossing both against the Arizona Cardinals in the second half of the team’s Week 2 win.
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The Giants Are Strapped to Daniel Jones in 2024
The Giants have Jones locked in at a $47.1 million salary hit and a $69.3 million dead cap next season. They would have to eat $22.2 million on top of his $69.3 dead money hit if they released him next year. He is guaranteed to be on the roster in 2024, so Schoen writing him off and providing anything but confidence would be a huge mistake.
As Schoen referenced throughout his press conference, there’s a human element to dealing with players. Having confidence in his newly extended quarterback shouldn’t be a surprise. It should be a guarantee.
However, that doesn’t mean Schoen isn’t thinking about the organization’s long-term success and understanding that a new quarterback could give them the best chance at improving. He made it apparent that Jones could miss the first few weeks of the regular season next year, opening up a good opportunity for a rookie quarterback to step in and start his development.
In fact, many would prefer to see Jones and a rookie passer compete outright for the starting job in 2024 since the Giants can move on from Jones anyway following the season’s completion. They would have to take on a $22.2 million dead salary hit, which they can spread over the next two years.
The difference between the contract of a rookie quarterback and the dead money owed to Jones would be significant, allowing them to sign more players in free agency and build a team around a signal caller of their choosing.
Of course, this would indicate the Giants are in range to draft a quality quarterback since they currently have the 6th overall selection after beating the New England Patriots on Sunday afternoon. Their opponents are much more competitive moving forward, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Giants lose out the rest of the season and maintain a top-10 draft pick.