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Now sitting at 2-7 after suffering their fourth consecutive loss, the New York Giants are headed to Germany next week to take on the also-2-7 Carolina Panthers. And when they take the field, the man under center will be the same one it has been all season: Daniel Jones. Giants head coach Brian Daboll told reporters on Monday that Jones will retain his starting job, and that nothing will change with regard to the distribution of starter’s reps in practice.
Jones has been extremely ineffective this season, completing only 63.8% of his passes at an average of 6.2 yards per attempt, with eight touchdowns against five interceptions in nine games. He has a sack rate north of 8% and has seen his effectiveness as a rusher wane to the point that he is averaging just 4.0 yards per carry. He is returning this season from a torn ACL suffered late last year, and has not looked either physically or mentally (from a football IQ/reading defenses standpoint) up to the job.
In Week 9, Jones finally accounted for his first touchdown at MetLife Stadium since late last season, and his offensive unit has scored 20-plus points in only three of nine games, with a season high of 29 in the team’s last win, which came in Week 5 against the Seahawks. The Giants have mustered a combined 58 points in their four division losses, and their only game without a turnover was one in which they scored three points and gained just 119 total yards.
After showing minor improvements in 2022 (he mostly just did not self destruct as he had in previous seasons) and securing a playoff victory, Jones was handed a four-year, $160 million contract that contained $81 million in guaranteed money. He then regressed badly in 2023 before suffering his knee injury, and has again been a massive disappointing relative to his salary this year.
The Giants can save between $19.4 million and $30.5 million by cutting ties with him next offseason, but not if he gets injured sometime between now and the end of the year, because his contract contains $23 million in injury guarantees. He carries base salaries of $30 million and $46.5 million in 2025 and 2026, and the Giants still have $22.2 million in signing bonus cap hits coming their way as well.
Unless Jones does something wildly out of character in Germany that somehow proves he is the man to lead the team in the future, it would not be at all surprising if his days as the starter were numbered.