After the bye in Week 11, New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll announced his decision Bench quarterback Daniel Jones in favor of third-string replacement Tommy DeVito.
Jones was soon demoted to QB4 and had to work as a scout team safety.
As it turned out, that was still more practice participation than the Giants expected from Jones, who was an injury guarantee through 2025.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that the Giants have asked Jones to stay away from the team after he was benched. When that request was denied, they drastically reduced his participation and even limited the amount of strength training he could do at the team facilities.
First of all, the Giants wanted Jones to stay home and get paid. That's what the Raiders did two years ago when they benched quarterback Derek Carr to avoid a $40 million guarantee in 2023. Carr agreed.
His first decision, we're told, was to stay active — and help the other quarterbacks prepare to win. When he decided not to stay home, the Giants changed his training program to minimize or even eliminate the risk of injury. He had no plans to throw at practice and his strength training program was significantly limited. All just to keep him healthy.
Unable to do anything other than stand around, Jones went to co-owner John Mara and requested his release, which was granted. Just a few days later, he signed a contract with the Minnesota Vikings' practice squad.
During a Thanksgiving Day broadcast of the Giants-Dallas Cowboys game, retired quarterback Tom Brady ripped Jones apart and essentially accused him of quitting the team. Interestingly, Florio reports that Brady never contacted Jones to ask for his side of the story.
We're told Brady has not contacted Jones or his representation for an explanation as to why Jones requested release.
Jones is a competitor, so it's no surprise that he wanted or was allowed to work somewhere else.
