An NFL legend was not too fond of the way Daniel Jones recently initiated his split from the New York Giants.
Tom Brady bashes Daniel Jones for leaving the Giants
Future Hall-of-Famer Tom Brady tore into Jones during Fox’s broadcast of the Giants’ clash against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday evening. Brady had this to say about the veteran quarterback requesting to be released from the team after getting demoted following their Week 11 bye (h/t Outkick’s Armando Salguero):
“I don’t know how the whole situation went down but to think you would ask for release from a team committed a lot to you is maybe different than how I would have handled that,” Brady said.
“I always felt I wanted to get the trust and respect of my teammates regardless of the situation, knowing that I was trying to be the best I could for the team, because that was the most important thing.”
Brady continued by saying:
“I showed up every day. I don’t care if they ask me to be scout team safety or scout team quarterback. I was going to do whatever I could to help the team win.”
Giants demoted Jones after poor play in the last two seasons
Jones was in fact relegated to playing safety in practice leading up to New York’s loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 12. He had previously started in 69 of the 70 games he played for the Giants after being drafted No. 6 overall by the franchise in the 2019 NFL Draft.
The Duke University product was not able to get the job done this season after following up his 2022 playoff run with a 1-5 record in 2023. He led the Giants to a 2-8 record in 2024 before head coach Brian Daboll pulled the plug.
Brady referenced his own challenges when criticizing Jones
Brady felt as though Jones should have toughed it out in New York as opposed to approaching management requesting be released. As a sixth-round draft pick, Brady did have to wait his turn before inheriting the starting role with the New England Patriots in his second season back in 2001. While he never experienced getting demoted after serving as a full-time starter, he would know better than most how to move in tough situations with a franchise.
Jones is now a member of the Minnesota Vikings and the Giants have turned the page with Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito as their quarterbacks moving forward. No matter, Brady voiced his opinion on the Giants’ divorce from Jones, and quite candidly at that.