The Daniel Jones era in New York is over.
After five and a half seasons of pretending Jones was their answer at quarterback, the Giants finally cut their 2019 first-round pick. benched him for the rest of the season.
Since Jones' $160 million contract is an “out” for the Giants after this season, his tenure with the team is effectively over.
Jones was selected sixth overall by Duke in the 2019 NFL draft. After a promising rookie season in which he threw 24 touchdowns in 12 starts, Jones fell off a cliff and never threw more than 15 touchdowns in any of his subsequent seasons.
Jones' record as a starter is 22-44-1 in the regular season and 1-1 in the postseason.
In 70 games for the Giants, Jones has completed 64.1 percent of his passes for 14,582 yards, 70 touchdowns and 47 interceptions with a QB rating of 84.3.
Jones has been sacked 208 times in his career and has a sack rate of 8.49, which ranks fourth among active quarterbacks behind Deshaun Watson, Tyrod Taylor and Russell Wilson.
Jones excelled as a runner. He rushed for 2,179 yards on 399 attempts, averaging 5.5 yards per carry with 15 touchdowns and 152 first downs.
Of quarterbacks who have played 70 or more games since 2019, Jones ranks third in YPC, behind only Lamar Jackson (6.3) and Kyler Murray (6.0).
But for a player selected so high in the draft, Jones wasn't enough of a passer. Since 2019, he ranked 29th in yards per completion (6.19), 23rd in touchdowns (70) and 22nd in completion percentage (64.1).
Jones never seemed up to the Giants' challenge and fell short in key moments. He had only seven fourth-quarter comebacks in his 70 games under center, and his failures in prime time (1-15) and other nationally televised games are well documented.
Former Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi, who drafted John Elway, Bernie Kosar and Eli Manning during his long NFL career, was once asked what he wanted to see in his quarterbacks.
“I evaluate them in the third period, what they do in the red zone and what they do in the fourth quarter when the game is on the line,” he said. “That to me is going to be the difference between a guy coming through who, if you surround him (with talent), you can win with him, or someone who is going to be great and someone who will take you to championships.”
That first sentence alone sums up everything about Jones. He doesn't master any of these areas. It's no wonder the Giants have had so little success with him under center.
The Giants have taken the first step in the right direction at quarterback. Don't get us wrong. We like Daniel Jones, but this is a deal that's failing and the Giants have to do what's best in the long run here.
