Giants Rumors: Daniel Jones Expected to Be QB1 in 2024 After Recovery from Injury

Timothy Rapp@@TRappaRTFeatured Columnist IVJanuary 7, 2024

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Daniel Jones appeared in just six games this season before a torn ACL ended his campaign, leading to players like Tommy DeVito and Tyrod Taylor getting a look at quarterback.

But the “expectation” is that Jones will be the New York Giants’ starter to open the 2024 season, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.

Mike Garafolo @MikeGarafoloFrom @NFLGameDay Morning: Today could mark Saquon Barkley’s final game with the #Giants. Meanwhile, Daniel Jones is working toward being ready for Week 1 next season, even taking to some seated throws on his own recently. pic.twitter.com/nJjaAdpNsv

“I’m told he’s attacked his rehab,” Garafolo reported, “to the point that he’s been sitting on the field on his own time, in a chair, throwing footballs and baseballs so that he can throw without being on his surgically repaired knee.”

The 26-year-old struggled when healthy this season, throwing for just 909 yards, two touchdowns and six interceptions while taking 30 sacks—a whopping five per game—and completing 67.5 percent of his passes. The Giants were 1-5 in those contests.

It was a major regression after Jones had a solid season in 2022—at least by his own standards, after he was generally pretty poor between the 2020-21 campaigns—throwing for a career-best 3,205 yards and five interceptions to go along with 15 touchdowns and a 67.2 completion percentage.

Jones was 9-6-1 as a starter, led the team to a playoff berth and was one of the intriguing free agents heading into the offseason, as the Giants previously declined his fifth-year option. But signing him to a four-year, $160 million deal felt like a dramatic overpay, and his struggles in 2023 seemed to justify those concerns.

Jones is now just 23-37-1 as the team’s starter, including the playoffs, and the Giants are committed to him for another three seasons.

It will be interesting to see how the team handles the draft, however, where it will likely have a top-five pick and could be in position to select a quarterback like Caleb Williams or Drake Maye if they trade up the board.

Granted, the team could also use the selection to add much-needed playmaker at wide receiver or address other needs. Cutting or trading Jones isn’t much of an option—the team would be saddled with $63.3 million in dead cap and it’s hard to imagine many teams inquiring about him—so bolstering the roster around him, and hoping for the best from the veteran quarterback, might be the preferred course of action this offseason.