The writing is on the wall for NY Giants quarterback Daniel Jones. Not long ago, following a road win against the Seattle Seahawks, it seemed like Jones was moving in the right direction and maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to keep his job in East Rutherford following the 2024 campaign.
Fast forward to present time, however, and the G-Men are 2-5 on the year and the campaign looks to be lost. In the Week 7 defeat to the Eagles, New York embarrassed itself in a 28-3 result. Jones couldn't move the ball, throwing for only 99 yards before he was benched early on in the fourth quarter.
Daboll has said that Jones will remain his starter, but it sure feels like the QB is on borrowed time. Leave it to Adam Schefter to have people talking about Jones' future on Monday too. In mid-September, Schefter brought up the $23 million injury guarantee Jones has with this team. He brought it up once again following the loss to Philly. Coincidence? We think not:
From just over one month ago: https://t.co/wuYwmQUCkI
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 21, 2024
Daniel Jones' injury guarantee could speed up the Giants benching him
Basically, if Jones suffers another serious injury and he's unable to pass a physical, the Giants will be on the hook for $23 million in 2025. That's obviously a huge chunk of dough that Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll don't want on the books.
Right now, it seems like a lock that Jones is going to be released next offseason. He holds a $41.6 million salary cap hit for '25 per Spotrac, but with a $22.2 million dead cap hit. That out is something Schoen would be foolish to not jump on, especially with Danny Dimes playing this way.
However, should the Giants keep sending him out onto the field, they indeed will be risking having to pay Jones his $23 million guaranteed for next year due to the injury clause. With the season lost already, why keep playing the veteran QB and risk losing that money?
We have seen other teams bench their QBs to avoid paying the injury guarantee, including the Broncos sitting Russell Wilson last year. Soon enough, we could see Daboll and Schoen follow suit. The Giants will take on the Steelers for Monday Night Football next week and while Coach Dabes said Jones will start, this will be something to monitor moving forward.