Top to bottom the New York Giants were all on the same page when they made the decision not to pick up the option on Daniel Jones’ contract. However, that doesn’t mean the organization is throwing in the towel on the quarterback they drafted in the first round of the 2019 draft.
That was the message that new general manager Joe Schoen was trying to get across on Wednesday during a post-draft media blitz on New York’s two sports talk giants.
“Everybody was in lockstep with the decision,” Schoen said during an appearance on Carton and Roberts on WFAN. “We discussed it, but again, Daniel was the focus of the offseason. It was like ‘hey how can we give this kid the best chance’ and John (Mara) has been vocal about Daniel (having) been through a couple of head coaches, several offensive coordinators. There’s been injuries to the offensive line and everything else.
“It was a conscious effort on our part to build the offensive line and not just starters, but create depth so when roster attrition does set in that the next man up philosophy can take place and we can still be competitive.”
Jones has had a rocky road through his first three seasons in the NFL and as the new general manager in New York alluded to, he has seen several different coaching staffs come and go in his short career. In 38 NFL games, he has 49 turnovers and accumulated a 12-25 record for the New York Giant as a starter.
The lack of a healthy offensive line contributed to Jones’ struggles last season and the Giants have gone out of their way to address that. They added veterans Mark Glowinski, Jon Feliciano and Max Garcia and drafted Evan Neal fifth overall and Joshua Ezeudu in the third round.
“If Daniel could stay on his feet there’s enough weapons on the team right now where we could be a competitive team and win games and get our best version of Daniel Jones and that’s what we’re hoping for,” Schoen said.
Still, it’s a big question over whether or not Jones can still pan out in New York with the Giants. Schoen is leaving the door open for him to return after this season, but it would take a career year for the team to put the franchise tag on him. Jones is expected to be the starter despite the addition of Tyrod Taylor, who the Giants signed to a two-year deal in March.
Even with the Giants’ decision to forgo the fifth-year option for Jones, Schoen claimed that it wasn’t an indication of how thee organization views him.
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“$22 million that’s a serious investment in anything,” Schoen said. “We love Daniel Jones and this isn’t an indictment on how we feel about him or we feel any different. … We think he’s a win with player, so we want a chance to work with him and go through a season. We’ve only been here for three months and around him for four or five weeks. We’re looking forward to working with him and if he goes out and balls out we still have the franchise tag that we can put on him. Or you enter a contract negotiations and an extension.”
As for how New York plans to deal with the possibility of Jones not panning out in the Big Apple, the Giants GM didn’t want to get into the idea of that happening.
“The last thing you’d want to do is move on from any player regardless of position and them go somewhere else and have success, and you had him in your building,” Schoen said later in an interview on the Michael Kay Show on ESPN New York.
