New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is heading into his fourth NFL season and it will be a telling one for both he and the Giants.
The sixth overall selection in the 2019 NFL draft has had a trying career thus far, riddled with injuries, coaching changes and a rotating cast of questionable talent around him.
New general manager Joe Schoen and incoming head coach Brian Daboll have made the decision to move forward with Jones under center. The question is, for how long?
Jones’ fifth-year option is due by May 2. The Giants are still undecided on whether they want to exercise or decline the option. If they exercise, Jones will get two more seasons in blue — this one and the next — and will earn approximately $22 million in 2023.
If the Giants decline the option, Jones will be literally singing for his supper this season as an impending 2023 free agent.
Schoen was asked at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis this week if the team had made a decision on Jones’ future. Granted, the coaching staff has not met in full as of yet and many roster decisions are hanging in the balance.
“Not yet,” he said. “We’re still working through all that. We’re going to be patient and go through the process.”
The Giants will likely take a good look at the quarterback class in this year’s draft and see if anyone bowls them over. That starts this week at the combine.
The Giants hold the fifth and seventh overall selections in the upcoming draft and are in the driver’s seat to either a) draft a quarterback this season or b) trade for draft capital to set them up to draft one next year.
Jones has shown flashes of competence but mainly his performance has been inconsistent. Many point to the weak infrastructure Jones has had to deal with the past three years but others will say he’s just not talented enough to overcome adversity.
We will see where the Giants stand in the next two months.
