Daniel Jones benched with Giants career likely over
Daniel Jones is headed to the bench, and he might not ever start another game for the Giants.
Coming off of a bye week late in another lost season, the Giants have decided to bench Jones and turn to Drew Lock as their starting quarterback, NFL Network reported Monday morning.
Former general manager Dave Gettleman once said that it would take three years “to find out how crazy I am” for reaching to pick Jones at No. 6 overall in 2019. It took twice as long as Gettleman forecasted and a lot of excuse-making, but the six-year Jones Era is likely over.
It would be shortsighted of the Giants (2-8) to even activate Jones for any of their remaining seven games, including Sunday against the Buccaneers.
Lock and third-stringer Tommy DeVito – a fan favorite who went 3-3 as a rookie starter last season – can handle the rest of the season and help determine where within the top-10 picks the Giants are drafting in 2025.
The four-year, $160 million extension that Jones signed after his well-timed career year in 2022 – highlighted by a great performance in the Giants’ only playoff victory since winning Super Bowl XLVI in 2011 – includes a $23 million injury guarantee.
If he is injured and can’t pass a physical by March, then the Giants’ dead salary-cap charge for releasing him goes from a manageable $22 million to an unwieldy $45 million.
