Giants general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll signed quarterback Daniel Jones to a four-year, $160 million contract in 2023. Jones was benched Monday 16 starts into that contract.
Schoen and Daboll signed Drew Lock to a one-year, $5 million contract this offseason to be Jones’ backup. But when Jones got benched, the Giants leapfrogged Lock and are going with No. 3 QB Tommy DeVito, who was already on the roster this offseason on a minimum contract.
One of the arguments for giving Schoen and Daboll a fourth season is to grant them the opportunity to draft and develop a quarterback. But their misevaluation of quarterbacks with loads of NFL experience over the past two offseasons should cause concern about the duo’s ability to land a franchise QB from a draft class lacking can’t-miss options.
Schoen and Daboll have been boosted by their roles as assistant GM and offensive coordinator, respectively, in Buffalo when the Bills turned Josh Allen from a raw quarterback prospect into a perennial MVP candidate. And some solace can be taken from their documented interest in Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye in this year’s draft.
But the reality is that Schoen and Daboll have had three offseasons to find a quarterback, and they landed in this mess. That’s not a comforting thought, especially with them likely feeling pressured to take a quarterback in next year’s draft. That’s how a team ends up using the sixth pick on a quarterback like Jones.
Here are more thoughts on the Giants’ first quarterback change in five years:
The holes in that theory
One of the rebuttals to Schoen and Daboll whiffing on the Jones contract is the notion that ownership forced their hand. There’s nothing more than circumstantial evidence about ownership’s fondness for Jones to support that theory. Meanwhile, there is evidence Schoen and Daboll were on board with building around Jones.
Ownership’s affinity for Jones wasn’t a secret when Schoen and Daboll were hired. John Mara uttered his infamous, “We’ve done everything to screw this kid up,” line at Schoen’s introductory news conference.
Still, ownership didn’t prevent the new regime from declining Jones’ $22.4 million fifth-year option for the 2023 season within months of being hired. Fast-forwarding to this offseason, it was abundantly clear Mara wanted to retain running back Saquon Barkley. But even coming off a 6-11 season, Schoen stood his ground and let Barkley walk in free agency to the Philadelphia Eagles, which was Mara’s nightmare scenario.
So to buy the theory that ownership forced Schoen and Daboll to extend Jones, one has to believe they went against ownership’s wishes immediately after they were hired and again coming off a losing season but not when their equity was at its highest after a playoff win. That doesn’t add up.
Schoen could have pointed to his first year in Buffalo when the Bills overachieved and reached the playoffs behind steady play from inherited quarterback Tyrod Taylor. That surprising success didn’t fool the Buffalo front office, as it traded Taylor after the season and moved up to take Allen in the 2018 draft.
There was little chance of the Giants following the Buffalo blueprint to the extreme of dumping Jones after the franchise’s first playoff win in a decade. But the franchise tag was a reasonable compromise if Schoen and Daboll had serious reservations about Jones.
Ownership obviously wouldn’t have fired Schoen and Daboll if they insisted on the tag because they weren’t sold on Jones as the long-term answer. And that’s where it comes back to the lack of evidence that they were forced to extend Jones.
Schoen has admitted that he made mistakes coming off the playoff run in 2022. He spoke last week about being “blinded” by the success of that season, which is alarming considering they only won nine games and had a negative point differential.
It’s not hard to believe Schoen and Daboll convinced themselves that they could win with Jones, who was 25 and coming off the best season of his career. Their actions — tagging Barkley, trading for tight end Darren Waller, restructuring contracts to facilitate free-agent signings — demonstrated their belief they would build off their 2022 success.
Of course, that was a miscalculation. Forget building on 2022; Jones put together the worst 16-game stretch of his career after signing the extension.
Even if re-signing Jones complied with ownership’s wishes, Schoen and Daboll have to own the quarterback’s failures the past two seasons.
Lock-ed out?
There was no suspense regarding Jones’ fate after his dismal performance in a loss to the Carolina Panthers before the bye week. But it was a surprise the Giants tabbed DeVito as the replacement instead of Lock.
Daboll indicated he’s hoping to rediscover the “spark” DeVito provided when pressed into starting duty as an undrafted rookie last season. DeVito’s run as the starter, which was forced by injuries to Jones and veteran backup Tyrod Taylor, was a fun distraction during a miserable season, and he was efficient during a three-game winning streak.
But Italian-themed celebrations aside, DeVito’s time as the starter needs to be put in perspective. The Giants created 12 takeaways during the three-game winning streak. They have just eight takeaways in 10 games this season, so a repeat of that type of dominant defense is unlikely.
#giants won three games DeVito started
Team OFF EPA in those wins:
-4.1
-15.7 (🤣)
-1.0Team DEF/ST EPA in those wins:
+16.1
+18.7
+3.0That’s quite the winning formula. Very sustainable.
Think the owner knows that? https://t.co/PiyM1YhZcy— Mike Sando (@SandoNFL) November 18, 2024
DeVito also got two of those victories against the Patriots and Commanders, who both finished last season with four wins. DeVito’s performance against a quality Packers team on “Monday Night Football” was a true highlight, but he immediately crashed back to earth and was benched midway through a game two weeks later for Taylor.
DeVito was sacked 36 times in the eight games he played significant snaps last season. The offensive line for most of those games featured LT Andrew Thomas, LG Justin Pugh, C John Michael Schmitz, RG Ben Bredeson and RT Tyre Phillips. In other words, he wasn’t playing behind the ragtag group the Giants assembled for much of the season. The current line may not be any better than that with Thomas out for the season and Evan Neal back at right tackle.
Daboll said the decision to start DeVito isn’t a reflection on Lock. That’s an impossible claim to take seriously.
DeVito was under contract for the minimum this offseason when the Giants targeted Lock, who had made 21 career starts over five seasons, to be the backup. That was a priority signing due to questions about Jones’ health and performance.
Lock spent the entire spring as the first-team quarterback as Jones rehabilitated from a torn ACL. Lock then became the No. 2 QB in training camp when Jones returned. Lock suffered a hip injury in the first preseason game, but he opened the season as the No. 2 quarterback despite still dealing with the injury.
Lock was the backup for each of the first 10 games, with DeVito relegated to the emergency third QB role. When Daboll was seeking a “spark” while trailing the Eagles 28-3 in Week 7, Jones was replaced by Lock for the fourth quarter.
So why did DeVito jump Lock on the depth chart when Jones was permanently benched? The only rational explanation is that Daboll and Schoen were spooked by what they saw from Lock in his preseason and regular-season appearances. That only amounted to two quarters of action, but Lock looked so bad that it’s entirely possible leadership was concerned about how ugly it would get if he took over as the starter.
DeVito has limitations, but he’s likely viewed as a safer option. DeVito showed he can be a game manager last season, only throwing three interceptions on 178 attempts. Lock threw an NFL-high 15 interceptions on 443 attempts in his last extended action during the 2020 season.
It would be a terrible look for Schoen and Daboll if the offense got worse after benching Jones and turning to Lock. It won’t be a great look if DeVito flops, but they have to believe there’s at least a chance he provides a baseline level of competency.
Daboll needs to squeeze whatever he can out of DeVito. If it’s revealed that the offensive problems weren’t Jones’ fault, the coach will face increased scrutiny.
Showcase? Slow down
The idea the next seven games are a showcase for DeVito is far-fetched. Yes, if he channels Kurt Warner in 1999, then the Giants will need to recalculate their quarterback plan. But they witnessed DeVito start six games last season, benched him for poor play and didn’t even consider him as an option for the No. 2 job this offseason.
As noted, the Giants are going to be in the market for a quarterback in next year’s draft. It’s conceivable DeVito could play well enough to enter the equation as the backup, but the Giants likely will target a more established veteran as a bridge option. So DeVito will most likely wind up back as the No. 3 quarterback next year unless he makes an extraordinary improvement from last season.
No risk
The Giants made Jones the No. 3 quarterback, which is evidence that this decision is at least partly based on his $23 million injury guarantee. Schoen and Daboll would never announce that publicly, and there’s no need to since there are legitimate performance-based reasons for the benching.
But going from the starter to inactive on game day indicates the Giants are done with Jones so they don’t want to risk an injury that will trigger the $23 million guarantee. The Giants will surely cut Jones sometime before the start of the new league year in March. That will leave them with a $22.2 million dead money charge on the 2025 cap while creating $19.4 million in cap savings.
Taking the plunge
When the Giants inevitably draft a quarterback next year, it will be their first plunge into the QB pool since taking Jones in 2019. They are one of three teams not to draft a quarterback since 2019. The Chiefs, who took Patrick Mahomes in the first round of the 2017 draft, and the Seahawks, who took Alex McGough in the seventh round of the 2018 draft, are the others.
Beyond that trio, the Bills, Bengals, Jaguars, Cowboys and Buccaneers are the only teams not to take a quarterback since Schoen and Daboll arrived in New York in 2022.
(Photo: Bryan Woolston / Associated Press)
