Giants Bench Daniel Jones And Skip Drew Lock And Head Toward Offseason Of Huge Quarterback Decisions

The news is that Daniel Jones has been benched by the New York Giants, which was expected when the salary cap said do it and coach Brian Daboll confirmed the team was considering it. But now the intrigue begins.

Because in benching Jones, the Giants are also skipping past backup Drew Lock as the next starter per multiple reports. They're going directly to third-stringer Tommy DeVito as the starter on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Nov 3, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) warms up before the game against the Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

No Jones, No Lock As Giants Starter

And that calls into question everything this management team does at the quarterback position.

Which begs the question, why is this management team getting a chance to make more quarterback decisions for the Giants?

We'll get to that. 

First …The change at quarterback comes one week after coach Daboll said the last-place Giants would evaluate their situation at the position.

The reason the Giants were suddenly evaluating had little do with the manner in which Jones, 27, was playing. He's a middling QB. He's been that his entire career and this year was no different.

Nov 3, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) carries the ball  during the first half against the Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Jones Contract Sends Him To Bench

The reason for the evaluation at this stage is Jones has an injury guarantee in his contract that could come into play next season if he were to get injured in this season's final couple of months. The Giants would owe him $23 million for 2025 if he were to suffer a serious injury and not be ready for next season.

And since the Giants already plan to move on from Jones next season, per multiple sources, making that break would be easier if they didn't owe him that $23 million, which would eat up valuable salary cap space.

So Jones goes to the bench. And if the Giants are smart, he might not even be allowed to practice or be limited in practice because, yes, players get injured in practice, too.

The borderline more surprising part is that Lock doesn't thus get the starting nod. 

Aug 24, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants quarterback Drew Lock (2) looks on prior to the game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Giants Spent $5 Million On Lock

The Giants invested a total of $5 million in Lock for 2024 to have him serve as the backup, just as he'd served the previous couple of seasons in Seattle.

But rather than pass the proverbial baton to the backup, the Giants are skipping Lock and giving DeVito the ball for what seems like their final seven games.

DeVito, you may recall, started six games for New York in 2023 and the team won three of those. He represented himself solidly enough that he earned a roster spot this year.

And so the question is not only why did the Giants miss on Jones, but why did they also miss on Lock? In some regards, the Lock miss is bigger because the current brain trust of general manager Joe Schoen and Daboll didn't have great choices on Jones.

They had to sign Jones after he helped them get to the playoffs in 2022 and even had a huge game at Minnesota that led to a New York postseason victory. Plus, there wasn't anyone else within reach the Giants could sign or draft to be their starter.

Oct 28, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA;  New York Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito (15) warms up before the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Tommy DeVito Takes Over

So they bought into Jones to the tune of a four-year, $160 million contract.

But then to follow with Lock? When they had DeVito?

Why didn't they simply save themselves those $5 million and decide on DeVito as their backup if he had the potential to be exactly that – which apparently he does based on Monday's decision?

The Giants, after seeing DeVito play, evaluated him as someone who needed to battle for a roster spot as a third-stringer. That made them spend $5 million to bring in Lock as their second-stringer.

Now they decide that evaluation was backward? DeVito is the second-stringer ascending to the starting role and Lock is behind him?

Luke Johnson-Imagn Images

What About Future Giants Decisions?

All this has very little to do about a season already in the trash. The Giants are 2-8 and going nowhere.

But next offseason the Giants will make more quarterback decisions. If Schoen and Daboll are around, meaning not fired, they'll decide on the team's next set of quarterbacks because both Jones and Lock could be gone.

And they'll go into that decision having bonked on the Jones decision. And having miscalculated on the Lock-DeVito dynamic that cost the team $5 million in cap space. Cap space, by the way, rolls over, so saving that space this year would have resulted in a $5 million savings for next year as well.

It's a strange look for the way this team makes quarterback decisions. 

Even as the same team gets ready to make bigger quarterback decisions in the offseason.