Giants' draft decision doesn't mean QB Daniel Jones is in the clear

Giants GM Joe Schoen has repeatedly indicated Daniel Jones is on track to return by training camp and reprise his role as the team’s starting quarterback. The team also showed tremendous confidence in the rehabbing QB by using the No. 6 overall pick to draft Malik Nabers, doing so despite extensive work on this year’s passer class.

Jones’ resume doubles as an unusual one for a quarterback on track for a sixth year as a team’s starter, but the party line (and Jones’ contract) centers around that being the Giants’ path. However, more rumblings about a QB competition are coming out. NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah said during his "Move the Sticks" podcast (h/t the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy) Drew Lock holds a legitimate chance to win that starting job.

The Giants thoroughly scouted this year’s QB class, being closely linked to both Drake Maye and J.J. McCarthy and hosting the likes of Bo Nix and Spencer Rattler on “30” visits along with the recent North Carolina and Michigan starters. The value did not align for the Giants at No. 6, with a clear line of demarcation forming between Maye and the next tier at the position. That led to the team offering the Patriots Nos. 6 and 47, along with a 2025 first-rounder. As it stands, the Giants remain a Jones-centric operation.

“Yeah, for me, I said it in January after the season. Expectation was Daniel would be our starter and we brought Drew Lock in to be his backup and Tommy [DeVito] has been the backup,” Schoen said, via ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan. “So that’s where we are and that’s how we’ll move forward this season. Daniel is still under contract for three more years. As it sits today, that is where we are.”

Certainly not a ringing Jones endorsement, Schoen’s comments come after Seahawks GM John Schneider said the Giants dangled the carrot of giving Lock a chance to compete for the starting job. Lock could well vie for playing time when Jones is healthy, the New York Daily News’ Pat Leonard adds.

Schoen’s assessment also points to a second “prove it” year for the 2019 No. 6 overall pick. Jones, 26, responded well to such a challenge in 2022, piloting a moderately talented Giants team to a surprising divisional-round run. But he fared poorly before going down last season, doing so after receiving $81M guaranteed at signing. That deal guarantees Jones’ $35.5M base salary this season. After this year, the Giants can move on without too much in the way of dead money.

The Giants’ QB research project pitted this year’s class against Jones and Lock and Jeremiah adds Maye provided the cutoff point. The team used Lock as a central comparison tool while evaluating this year’s class, per Jeremiah, who said the former second-round pick has a “really good shot” of winning the Giants’ job. Given the team’s 2023 commitment to Jones, it would be borderline shocking if Lock – who signed a one-year, $5M deal in March – beat him out. On the whole, however, Jones has not given the Giants what they hoped for in an Eli Manning successor. And just about everything went wrong for the five-year starter last season.