Reporter weighs in on potential Giants quarterback controversy
New York Giants QB Daniel Jones
For a piece published Wednesday, ESPN reporter Jordan Raanan seemed to pour cold water over any idea that the New York Giants will hold a legitimate quarterback competition between Daniel Jones and Drew Lock this summer.
“It’s still Daniel Jones’ show,” Raanan directly said about the situation. “The Giants have been adamant about Jones being the starter when he returns from a torn right ACL. The 26-year-old quarterback told ESPN last week that he was cutting on the leg and ‘doing everything’ during the team’s offseason workout program. All signs point to Jones being cleared for the start of training camp.”
It’s now hardly a secret that Giants general manager Joe Schoen had at least some interest in moving up from overall pick No. 6 to No. 3 in the 2024 draft order for the right to select North Carolina Tar Heels star signal-caller Drake Maye. Schoen was unable and/or unwilling to get the New England Patriots to sell that draft asset and the Giants had no realistic chance of getting into the top two picks for either Caleb Williams of the USC Trojans or Jayden Daniels of the LSU Tigers.
The Giants ultimately passed on quarterbacks Michael Penix Jr. and J.J. McCarthy to draft LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers via choice No. 6.
Some have suggested since the draft that Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll could start Lock over Jones, in part because $23M of Jones’ salary for 2025 is guaranteed against injury. Jones dealt with a pair of worrisome neck-related problems from the fall of 2021 through this past season until he went down with the torn right ACL on Nov. 5, but Raanan indicated that Schoen isn’t yet counting down the months and weeks until the club can escape Jones’ contract next offseason.
“So unless newly signed Drew Lock or Tommy DeVito do something spectacular this spring, it’s Jones’ job to lose,” Raanan continued in Wednesday’s piece. “Given his work ethic, it’s hard to envision Jones not starting Week 1. Whether he plays well enough to keep the job for the entirety of this season and into the future is another story.”
Back in 2019, a different coaching staff benched Giants legend Eli Manning in favor of Jones after New York opened Jones’ rookie season with back-to-back defeats. Jones may not get more than a couple of games to prove himself this September, but it sounds like he’s still comfortably atop the Giants depth chart regardless of what outsiders have to say about the matter this spring.
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