Daniel Jones has found his new team.
The former New York Giants quarterback is expected to sign with the Minnesota Vikings. according to NFL Network. The move came shortly after Jones requested his release from the Giants after losing his starting job earlier this month.
Jones got his start in the league with the Giants, who selected him with the No. 6 overall pick out of Duke in 2019 as Eli Manning’s eventual replacement. Although he has consistently been the team’s starter for the past six seasons, he has struggled to find much success, especially lately, which only got worse after the team signed him to a four-year, $160 contract in March 2023 million had signed. departure of running back Saquon Barkley, who is now in the midst of a career season with the Philadelphia Eagles.
After a very solid campaign in 2022 – when he led the team to a 9-7-1 record and the playoffs – his play has been largely downhill since then. Jones threw for 2,070 yards with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions this season. He led the Giants to five consecutive losses before the team ultimately opted to bench him in favor of third-string quarterback Tommy DeVito prior to their loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week.
That moved Jones to the team’s third quarterback, behind backup Drew Lock, and sent him to the scout team. He read a lengthy statement that sounded days later like a farewell to the organization, then asked for Friday’s release. The team quickly granted that request.
Jones went 22-44-1 over six seasons as a Giants starter, and he had just one winning season with the team.
“There have been some great times, but of course we all wish there had been more of them,” Jones said in a statement before his release. “I take full responsibility for my part in not achieving more wins. No one wanted to win more games than me and I gave everything I had on the pitch and in my preparation.”
It’s unclear what will happen to Jones after this season, and whether he can work his way back into a starting role in the league. But with the way his career was going with the Giants, who have some very obvious issues of their own beyond the quarterback struggles, a departure from the franchise felt inevitable.
Now Jones gets the chance to start over somewhere else.
