On Monday, the New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll announced a change at quarterback.
Going forward, second-year quarterback Tommy DeVito will be the starter for the Giants(2-8) when they host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers(4-6) on Sunday, and Daniel Jones is headed to the bench. Drew Lock, who was the backup to Jones, will be DeVito’s backup. Last season, DeVito started six games for the Giants, and the team went 3-3.
“So, we’re making a quarterback switch here from (quarterback) Daniel (Jones), and we’re going to go with (quarterback) Tommy (DeVito),” Daboll said. “I spoke with all the quarterbacks this morning before our morning meeting and let them know the direction that we’re going. Those are never easy conversations. Got a lot of respect for all three of those guys. After evaluating a bunch of things and looking at a lot of tape and being around Tommy last year where he created a little bit of a spark for us, that’s the reason why we’re going with Tommy. (Quarterback) Drew (Lock) will be the backup. Continue to work with him. He’s been nothing but a pro and as was Daniel. It’s never an easy conversation to have with the players. But felt like this was a necessary move for us and look forward to working with Tommy and getting him ready to go against Tampa.”
Daboll explained when he came up with the decision to make a quarterback change.
“Yeah, I’ve been doing a lot of work over the bye week, including Saturdays and Sundays,” he said. “And felt comfortable this morning coming in and letting those guys know before the meeting so we can get the week started here and get on to Tampa preparations. But I didn’t want to make a decision right after the game. However, that game went. I wanted to take our time and watch a lot of tape. Not just this year’s, last year’s, some other things, too. And try to make the best decision we can make for our team. That’s what I did.”
In the offseason, the Giants signed Lock to a one-year, $5 million deal, and he was Jones’ backup all season long, so the logical thought was that he would be the starter. Daboll explained why that was not the case.
“Again, I got a lot of confidence in Drew, the way he’s handled himself since he’s been here, and he handled this well too,” Daboll said. “Being a professional. Again, Tommy, we’ve been with Tommy here for a little bit. He’s done a nice job, I would say, throughout practices here. But also, we have something to lean on by going back and watching him operate some of our stuff from last year. This is no indication on Drew whatsoever. He’s been excellent for us. It was more about what I felt Tommy gave us.”
If Jones, who is coming off a torn ACL in 2023, is injured and cannot pass a physical next offseason, $23 of his $30 million salary for 2025 would be guaranteed, but Daboll said that did not factor into his decision.
“The coaches and I met, I’d say, every day last week almost and into the weekend,” he said. “We evaluate the performance of the players, and we made a decision based off that to go with Tommy (DeVito).”
Jones, who signed a four-year, $160 million deal with the team in 2023, time with the Giants is probably over, and barring something unforeseen, the 27-year-old Jones will not take another snap with the team and will be released at season’s end. According to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, New York will have a $22.2 million dead cap hit next year.
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