The New York Giants have had an exciting offseason. New York is currently being featured on the first edition of a new Hard Knocks series from HBO that follows one team through their offseason process. The first episode aired last night and it revealed several interesting insights about the team, including the organization's thoughts on QB Daniel Jones.
During the first episode, Giants general manager Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll discuss Daniel Jones a couple of times.
First, Jones comes up during a discussion about paying running backs.
“You're paying the guy (Jones) $40 million,” Schoen said, per NFL.com's Eric Edholm. “It's not to hand the ball off to a $12 million back.”
There's some double meaning going on here. In the conversation, Schoen is making a point that the team wants to throw the ball more than pay an elite running back. However, it is also the first of several instances where Daniel Jones' $40 million price tag is mentioned during the episode.
As a result, the Giants decided not to overspend on Saquon Barkley and instead pump resources into other parts of the offense.
“My plan is [to] address the offensive line at some point here in free agency,” Schoen continued. “We're sitting at [No.] 6, there's a chance there's an offensive weapon there.
Schoen made it clear in that conversation that 2024 is a make-or-break year for Daniel Jones.
“This is the year for Daniel. Plan all along was [to] give him a couple years. Is he our guy for the next 10 years? Or do we need to pivot and find somebody else?”
Giants coaching staff appears concerned about Daniel Jones injury history
Last night's episode also featured a segment on Daniel Jones and his recovery from last year's season-ending ACL tear.
HBO teased this storyline in a trailer last week. Jones spends some time discussing how this injury is different from others he's suffered throughout his career.
“I am five months from the surgery,” Jones said in the trailer, “I'm still progressing that. You know, I've gotten hurt, but not like this.”
Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen spoke candidly about Jones' injury during episode one. They didn't come right out and say it, but it is clear that they have their doubts about Jones' future with the team.
“The reality is — facts — [that Jones has had] three serious injuries in two years,” Schoen said. “We need to protect ourselves. He didn't have much of a chance this year. That's legit. Like your offseason, your core guys that were gonna play together played less than 60 snaps together. Miami, we got f—— three practice squad guys playing for us.”
Schoen is addressing an immediate concern by seeking a backup QB to sit behind Jones. However, at that point in the offseason the Giants were still open to adding a starting-caliber QB to compete with Jones outright.
Schoen does make a good point that the Giants' offensive line was terrible in 2023, which contributed to Jones' situation.
“You could have Pat Mahomes, and he can't f—— win behind that. I'm not giving up on (Jones),” Schoen concluded. “He's under contract for three more years. Just protecting ourselves, because [the] best predictor of the future is the past.”
It will be interesting to watch the remaining episodes and see details on the 2024 NFL Draft and the team's trade for Brian Burns.
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