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Jordan Raanan, ESPN writer
EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey – It was September 10, 2023, the first game for Daniel Jones and the New York Giants since the quarterback signed a four-year, $160 million contract seven months earlier.
Jones was pressured on 23 dropbacks and sacked seven times in a 40-0 home loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Their primary pass protector, left tackle Andrew Thomas, injured a hamstring and did not return until the second half of the season.
Things went wrong for Jones and the Giants after he signed that mega deal, and the deterioration set in quickly.
Jones was released on Friday, 439 days after the Cowboys dismantled him. He had won three of 16 starts, throwing 10 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions before being benched this week in favor of Tommy DeVito. Jones, 27, went to Giants ownership Friday to ask for his release a day after spending part of Thursday’s practice playing safety on the scout team. The Giants and Jones decided it was best for the sides to split with seven games left in the season.
“Of course, this season has been disappointing for everyone and of course I wish I could have done more,” Jones said Thursday during what was essentially his farewell news conference. “I’m 100 percent responsible for my part. I didn’t play well enough or with enough consistency to help the team get the results.”
Things barely got better after that loss to the Cowboys. Jones played well in the second half the following week at Arizona, but in Week 4 of last season, a national audience got to see him getting sacked 10 times and throwing a pick-six in a blowout loss on “Monday Night Football” against the Seattle Seahawks at MetLife Stadium.
He was not healthy again in 2023. Jones hurt his neck while getting hit late in a loss to the Miami Dolphins the following week. He returned four weeks later only to tear the ACL in his right knee in the first quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Thus, his season ended. So was any viable chance of success in New York.
“Part of it was probably the injuries,” DeVito said. “Last year, [Jones] I got hurt a lot during the games and probably wasn’t completely healthy at all times. But he was still going out and giving it his all. Sometimes he probably couldn’t bring out the best version of himself. “It’s probably not fair to him, but… when you go out to play, you go out to play.”
Ultimately, Jones will be judged by the results, which have not been good since a playoff victory in 2022, the most successful season of his career. He finished that season sixth in the NFL with a 62.9 QBR, but ranks 26th among qualified quarterbacks with a 53.0 QBR since entering the league in 2019.
The Giants flirted with drafting a quarterback this past offseason, a key theme highlighted on HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” which chronicled the team’s preseason. The show showed coach Brian Daboll in a pre-draft meeting when he was asked if he would trade for Jayden Daniels.
“Daniels?” Daboll said. “I would.”
General manager Joe Schoen was also heard telling the New England Patriots to keep the Giants in mind if they were going to trade the No. 3 pick. Common sense says the Giants never traded for anyone other than a quarterback, especially after that sources confirmed their great interest in Drake Maye. The North Carolina product was ultimately drafted by the Patriots.
Multiple sources close to Jones said they believe the public search for a quarterback took a toll on him, putting additional pressure on his shoulders earlier this season. Not only was he recovering from a serious knee injury, but he now carried the burden of succeeding immediately.
Jones clearly wasn’t the same this season as he was in 2022. His accuracy, never among Jones’ biggest concerns in the past, was an issue from the start of training camp. At times this summer, he was constantly throwing deep balls. Jones admitted to tackling in an effort to self-correct. This recognition perhaps revealed the internal battle he faced after knee surgery and two neck injuries.
Even with the perception that he had an improved receiving corps, including dazzling rookie Malik Nabers, Jones’ confidence did not appear high, and several players told ESPN that his relationship with Daboll seemed different. One described him as “strange” at times.
The tension seemed to come to the surface in front of an international audience that watched the Giants play the Carolina Panthers in Germany two weeks ago. Daboll, who took over the snaps this season to try to fix a broken offense, called a flick on third-and-1. Two receivers were wide open, but Jones couldn’t throw the ball.
Daboll appeared on television screaming as he ran down the sideline. After about 20 yards, he ran into one of the wide receivers, Wan’Dale Robinson, and slapped his hand. They both seemed to know there was a big play ahead. Several Giants players were watching the play together on their phones when the media entered the locker room after the game at Allianz Stadium.
At the time, it seemed evident that the Giants would soon turn the page on Jones, whose QBR this season is the worst of his career at 46.5. Surprisingly, they chose DeVito, the third player and emergency quarterback for every game this season, instead of the second player, Drew Lock.
Whatever the reasons for that decision, Jones had hit rock bottom during the team’s five-game losing streak, signaling his end with the Giants. He was benched and eventually released. His contract will go down as one of the worst in Giants history. His tenure will be considered unsuccessful, with one winning season in six years.
“Playing in New York didn’t help,” said wide receiver and close friend Darius Slayton. “The pressure from the media is so immense on the coach and the players. Over time it’s going to deteriorate.”
