The New York Giants have shut down quarterback Daniel Jones for the rest of the season after placing the quarterback on IR due to a neck injury.
Jones finished the season completing 232 of 361 passes (a career-high 64.3%) for 2,428 yards, 10 touchdowns, and seven interceptions for a passer rating of 84.8. Jones also rushed for 298 yards and two touchdowns.
The third-year quarterback was decent this season, and at this point, New York has to decide about Jones’ future going forward. New York will have to determine if they will pick up his fifth-year option after the draft, which would guarantee him $21.3 million.
According to Giants head coach Joe Judge, Jones has done enough, but the front office has to decide what’s best in terms of the contract.
“Yeah, I’ve seen enough growth from Daniel to tell us that he’s a guy we want to go ahead and play with,” Judge said earlier this week. “In terms of the business aspect of it and different things, I’ll let different departments of this organization handle that stuff. I’ll coach the players.”
New York will lose 10 or more games for the fifth straight season, and Jones knows next season the Giants have to be better.
“Well, I think as we go forward and into next year, we’ve all got to do a better job,” Jones said. “Like I said, we didn’t win enough games… I’ve spoken to Joe, and we’ve had conversations about that, but like I said, I think there’s things that I need to improve on. There’s things he expects me to improve on going forward. I understand that and obviously take that very seriously. That’s kind of my approach.”
Injuries have been an issue for Jones. Plus, when healthy, his play has been up and down. In addition, the front office will probably look a little different next season as it is expected that Senior VP and GM Dave Gettleman will likely be replaced, so a new GM could mean a new direction at the quarterback position, which could make this situation very interesting.
If you pick up the fifth-year option, you guarantee Jones’s contract for the next two seasons, and that’s a gamble. Jones is 12-25 as a starter and has thrown 45 touchdowns with 29 interceptions and 20 lost fumbles, so that’s a lot of turnovers.
In fairness to Jones, New York has never fixed their offensive line issues, and they have struggled with injuries on the offensive side of the ball this season, so it’s not all his fault.
It might be in New York’s best interest not to pick up the fifth-year option and let Jones play out the rest of the contract and see where he stands after next season.
