Maybe some of the Daniel Jones takes are getting reeled in a bit after his showing Saturday, but he probably remains the best option for the Giants going forward.
The quarterback is set to become a free agent this offseason after the Giants elected not to pick up his fifth-year option before this season began. Jones responded well, delivering his best NFL season to date and pulling along a Giants offense that had one of the worst collections of receivers in the league.
Unless the Giants made the surprising move of blowing things up, letting Jones walk and drafting a quarterback, the 25-year-old represents their best option at the position. Trading for Aaron Rodgers would cost a ton, and there’s a strong case to be made that going all-in on a quarterback wouldn’t be the best use of resources given holes elsewhere on the roster.
The free agent class is underwhelming too, likely to be headlines by Derek Carr. If you’re going off 2022 performance, Jones is probably a better play.
It wasn’t that surprising then that Joe Benigno, a fan of a truly quarterback-needy team in the Jets, said on “Tiki & Tierney” that it would be foolish of the Giants to let Jones walk.
"I think you’ve finally got a franchise quarterback," Benigno said. "For all the this way and that way over the last three years about Daniel Jones, I think you have to look at it and say ‘Man, I think we’ve got a real quarterback here,’ I don’t think there’s any doubt about it. …
"No question (he's the guy for the future). I’ll tell you right now, if the Giants were stupid enough to let Daniel Jones go, I’d be screaming for (the Jets) to go sign him. If you’re a Giant fan, where are you getting better right now than Daniel Jones at that position?”
Jones addressed his future Sunday, giving the fairly standard “I’d love to be here but we’ll see” response that pending free agents tend to give.
“Right now more than anything, I’m thinking about this year and this team and being able to be part of a special group of guys,” Jones said. “I’ve greatly enjoyed being here, I have nothing but love and respect for this organization, and I’d love to be back, but we’ll see; there’s a business side to it, too, but very grateful to be here and be a part of it.
“We will figure out where that goes, but I have nothing but love and respect for this organization and the group of guys in the locker room."
It’s a big offseason for the Giants, who exceeded expectations this season and showed they are on the rise. As they build towards 2023, the Jones situation constitutes the biggest decision facing them.
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