The New York Giants met with Russell Wilson last week. Then they signed Drew Lock. They have also heavily scouted all the top quarterbacks in this year’s draft, and they’ve spoken to teams about the possibility of trading up, presumably to take one.
And all of this comes one year after they gave a four-year, $160 million contract to Daniel Jones, a quarterback they continue to insist they expect to be their starter — if he’s healthy enough to play.
So what’s really going on with the Giants at the quarterback position? Giants general manager Joe Schoen insisted at the NFL Scouting Combine last month that “I have faith in Daniel as our starting quarterback.” But he also admitted the need to “address the position” because of the uncertain recovery timeline of Jones’ recovery from his torn ACL.
The Giants seem to be hedging their bets against Jones for the short term. But are they also plotting out new options for the long term? Is their “faith” in the 26-year-old Jones as strong as it was when they gave him that massive deal with $82 million in guaranteed money last March, or are they feeling “buyer’s remorse” as NFL Network’s Rich Eisen reported he heard at the combine?
Those are all good questions. So here’s an in-depth look at where the Giants stand at the quarterback position as the NFL begins to transition from free agency to the 2024 NFL Draft, what they’re thinking and what they might be planning, with the help of multiple sources from inside the Giants organization and around the league:
As bad as Jones was in the first five games of last season, there are a lot of people very high up in the Giants organization who still believe in his ability — which is what FOX Sports reported back in November. They were not shaken by five bad games, most of which were played without Saquon Barkley, without left tackle Andrew Thomas, and behind a truly disastrous offensive line.
What has shaken their faith, one team source said, is his injury history. That seems to be more the history of neck injuries than his recovery from a torn ACL, which the Giants say has gone well. But the neck injuries — disc issues that neither the Giants nor Jones have ever fully explained — are worrisome. As Jones’ former trainer told FOX Sports in November, “The likelihood of reinjury, once it gets injured the first time, it’s definitely more susceptible moving forward.”
So yes, the Giants seem to believe in Jones’ ability to be their next Eli Manning as much as they did on March 7, 2023, when they gave him that blockbuster contract. But because he is an injury risk, they feel like they at least have to explore all their options — which is exactly what they are doing. Jones’ health does seem to be a big enough issue for the organization that it’s impossible to say they still believe he’s their long-term answer at quarterback.
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