The New York Giants chose Daniel Jones at quarterback this past offseason after signing him to a four-year, $160 million contract in March 2023 that essentially tied them to him for at least the 2024 season.
They had a pipe dream of taking a franchise quarterback in this year's draft in hopes of somehow moving up from No. 6 overall to No. 3, but none of the teams that owned those picks had any desire to come back.
Free agency presented a few options, one of which was Russell Wilson – who wasn't willing to ride behind Jones – a player the Giants were committed to. He decided to sign with Pittsburgh, where he is now leading the Steelers towards the AFC playoffs.
The Giants instead decided to back Jones with Drew Lock on a one-year deal. Lock was told that Jones was the starter and he agreed to sign as the backup.
Lock received a one-year, $5 million contract. Wilson signed with the Steelers for the veteran minimum – $1.2 million.
On Tuesday, Giants general manager Joe Schoen was asked if he wished he was doing something different at the quarterback position, especially with Wilson visiting.
“When people are free agents and you go through the process, you do what you do,” he said. “If it’s a good fit, sometimes they come. If not, you can't make them. So you go through the process of free representation again, regardless of whether it is a position. And that's how free agency works. And the players decide where they want to go and what they want to do. But some of these things are out of your control.”
Now we're in Week 10 and Wilson, who took over the starting job from Justin Fields in Week 7, has led the Steelers to three straight wins, one over the Giants.
The Giants are now 2-8 and have five games under their belt heading into their bye. Jones has struggled and the Giants are “considering” whether or not they will continue to use him. He has a clause in his contract that calls for an injury guarantee that would cost them $23 million if it goes into effect.
It was clear last week that Jones was costing them games by performing poorly in the red zone and also failing to make big plays down the field.
Considering the Giants are 1-5 in one-score games, better play at quarterback could see them go 4-6 or 5-5 this season instead of 2-8.
Wilson, a Super Bowl championship quarterback with some gas left in the tank, could have been that guy.
