How it all fell apart for Daniel Jones and the Giants

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — It was Sept. 10, 2023, the first game for Daniel Jones and the New York Giants since the quarterback signed a four-year, $160 million contract seven months earlier.

Jones was pressured into 23 dropbacks and sacked seven times in a 40-0 home loss to the Dallas Cowboys. His top pass protector, left tackle Andrew Thomas, injured a hamstring and didn’t return until the second half of the season.

Things went badly for Jones and the Giants after he signed that mega deal, and the deterioration happened quickly.

Jones was released Friday, 439 days after being dismantled by the Cowboys. He had won three of 16 starts, thrown 10 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions before being benched this week in favor of Tommy DeVito. Jones, 27, went to Giants ownership Friday to ask for his release, a day after spending part of Thursday’s practice playing scout team safety. The Giants and Jones decided it was best for the parties to part ways with seven games left in the season.

“Obviously this season has been disappointing for everybody and obviously I wish I could have done more,” Jones said Thursday during what was essentially his farewell news conference. “I’m 100 percent responsible for my part. I didn’t play well enough, consistently enough to help the team get the results.”

It barely got any better after that loss to the Cowboys. Jones played well in the second half the following week at Arizona, but in Week 4 last season he was seen by a national audience sacked 10 times and threw a pick-six in a blowout loss on “Monday Night Football” to Seattle Seahawks at MetLife Stadium.

He was not healthy again in 2023. Jones hurt his neck while getting hit late in a loss to the Miami Dolphins the following week. He returned four weeks later only to tear the ACL in his right knee in the first quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Just like that, his season was over. So was any viable chance of success in New York.

“Probably part of it was injuries,” DeVito said. “Last year (Jones) had a bunch of concussions during the games, he probably wasn’t fully fit at all times. But still went out there and gave it his all. Sometimes it probably wasn’t able to get The best version of himself out there is probably not fair to him, but … when you go out there to play, you go out there to play.”

Jones will ultimately be judged on the results, which haven’t been good since a playoff win in 2022, the most successful season of his career. He finished that season sixth in the NFL with a QBR of 62.9, but ranks 26th among qualified quarterbacks with a QBR of 53.0 since entering the league in 2019.

The Giants flirted with drafting a quarterback last season, a key topic highlighted on HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” which chronicled the team’s preseason. The program showed coach Brian Daboll being asked in a predraft meeting if he wanted to trade for Jayden Daniels.

“Daniels?” Daboll said. “I would.”

General manager Joe Schoen was also heard telling the New England Patriots to keep the Giants in mind if they were to trade the No. 3 pick. Common sense says the Giants never traded up for a non-quarterback, especially after sources confirmed their strong interest in Drake May. The North Carolina product was eventually selected by the Patriots.

Multiple sources close to Jones said they believe the public search for a quarterback affected him, putting extra pressure on his shoulders early this season. Not only was he coming back from a serious knee injury, but now he carried the burden of succeeding right away.

Jones clearly wasn’t the same this season as he was in 2022. His accuracy — never among the biggest concerns with Jones in the past — was an issue from the start of training camp. At times this summer, he consistently threw deep balls. Jones admitted to falling over in an attempt to right himself. This recognition perhaps revealed the internal struggle he faced after knee surgery and two neck injuries.

Even with the perception that he had an improved receiving corps, including dazzling rookie Malik Nabers, Jones’ confidence did not seem high, and several players told ESPN that his relationship with Daboll looked different. One described it as “weird” at times.

The excitement seemed to boil to the surface in front of an international crowd that watched the Giants play the Carolina Panthers in Germany two weeks ago. Daboll, who took over playcalling this season to try to fix a broken offense, called for a flea-flicker on a third-and-1. Two receivers were wide open, but Jones failed to throw the football.

Dabøll was shown on TV as he ran up the touchline. After about 20 yards, he ran into one of the open wide receivers, Wan’Dale Robinson, and slapped his hand. They both seemed to know there was a big play going on. Several Giants players watched the game together on their phones as the media entered the locker room after the game at Allianz Stadium.

At the time, it appeared the Giants would soon turn the page on Jones, whose QBR this season is a career-worst 46.5. They surprisingly went for DeVito, the third-stringer and the emergency quarterback for every game this season, over second-stringer Drew Lock.

Regardless of the reasons for this decision, Jones had tied the team’s five-game losing streak, signaling his end with the Giants. He was benched and eventually released. His contract will go down as one of the worst in Giants history. His tenure will be considered a failure, with one winning season in six years.

“Playing in New York didn’t help,” said wide receiver and close friend Darius Slayton. “The media pressure is so huge on the coach and the players. It will eventually get worse.”