The New York Giants announced on November 18th that the team will be benching quarterback Daniel Jones, the number six overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, in favor of 26-year-old Tommy DeVito.
“After evaluating and watching a lot of tape, that’s the reason we are going with Tommy,” said Giants head coach Brian Daboll. “This was a necessary move for us, and I’m looking forward to working with Tommy, and he’ll be ready to go against Tampa Bay.”
Former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock will be the second-string quarterback for the Giants while Daniel Jones will be the team’s third-stringer. According to Dan Salomone, the senior managing editor of the New York Giants website, Brain Daboll said Lock’s designation as DeVito’s backup is “not a reflection” of his capabilities.
Too Little, Too Late
Jones’ benching likely means that his days with the New York Giants will be coming to an end at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season. While Giants fans will rejoice over this decision, they should still be upset with their team.
Jones deserved to be benched last season after he finished the year 49th in quarterback rating. That was the worst performance by a team’s 2024 starter and the 11th-worst rating amongst 59 qualifying quarterbacks in 2023. If the G-men had abandoned the Jones experiment last year, then they would be in a prime position to tank for one of the highly-touted quarterbacks that will be available in the 2025 NFL Draft. Thankfully, Jones was so bad that the Giants have the worst record in the NFC through 11 weeks.
The Giants would be in a much better position for the future if they had given up on Jones last off-season and drafted a guy like J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix or Michael Penix Jr. Instead, they’ll have to settle for a prospect in what appears to be a weaker quarterback class this upcoming off-season.
At least by benching Jones now, the Giants are protecting themselves. New York would’ve had to have paid Jones $23 million in guaranteed money in 2025 if he had been unable to pass a physical this coming off-season due to an injury sustained this year. By benching him today, the Giants save themselves $23 million in 2025.
One-Hit Wonder
We may never see another quarterback like Daniel Jones. It took the Giants 69 starts to realize that he is bad. That’s crazy to think about when you realize that other teams give up on rookie quarterback prospects in less than two years sometimes (poor Josh Rosen).
He has robbed the Giants of millions of dollars all because he helped the team beat an overrated Minnesota Vikings squad in the 2022 playoffs. If the Giants hadn’t won that game, then there is a strong possibility that they would have moved on from Jones, tanked in 2023, and ended up with a high draft pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Who knows… Maybe there’s an alternate universe where the Giants ended up with Jayden Daniels or Caleb Williams had they not won that 2022 wild card game.
Either way, people should be in awe of Daniel Jones and his ability to fleece a professional sports organization. He parlayed an 84.3 quarterback rating, 50 fumbles, and 47 interceptions into over $108 million in contracts. In all likelihood, we will never again see a pro athlete swindle a team like Daniel Jones did the Giants.
Main Photo: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
