Is Daniel Jones doing enough to make the Giants keep him around?

In his fourth-year with the New York Giants, quarterback Daniel Jones helped the team make the playoffs. Has he done enough to stay with the team for the foreseeable future?

Just last year, the New York Giants fanbase wore paper bags over their heads at MetLife Stadium, embarrassed to show their faces that they, indeed, actually paid money to purchase tickets to watch the team and drink their free medium Pepsi on “Fan Appreciation Day.” Not to mention, those fans watched the team enter the surrender formation deep in their own territory to give their punter more room in their home finale, a far cry from what then-head coach Joe Judge preached in his introductory press conference back in 2020. It was a sad five year stretch for the Giants.

A lot can change in a year. With Brian Daboll coming over from the Buffalo Bills to be their new head coach, the team has over-performed expectations and are now in the playoffs for the first time since 2016. They did so by defeating the Indianapolis Colts 38-10, and quarterback Daniel Jones played an important role in that.

In the victory, Jones completed 19-of-24 pass attempts for 177 yards and two touchdowns, while also running for 91 yards and two touchdowns. Perhaps most importantly, Jones received a standing ovation from the fanbase after being pulled from the game after leading the team back to the playoffs.

Has Jones done enough to warrant an extended stay with the Giants?

Has Daniel Jones done enough to remain with Giants?

When it comes to Jones’ reception following his introduction to the New York/New Jersey area, it was icy at best. The fans watched as the team passed on Kentucky edge rusher Josh Allen to take Jones at the sixth-overall spot of the 2019 NFL Draft. It certainly didn’t help that then-general manager Dave Gettleman said he was sold on Jones during his three series played in the Senior Bowl. Jones showed real promise in his rookie season, but never really replicated it. Until now.

Jones hasn’t had the best of luck in his first three years in the league, as he had two different coaching staffs in that span. Pat Shurmur was fired after Jones’ rookie season, and had Judge’s staff that saw Jason Garrett as offensive coordinator, who was then replaced by Freddie Kitchens as offensive play-caller.

In his first season under Daboll, Jones is playing with much more confidence and isn’t turning over the football, which has plagued him early on in his career. In fact, through 16 games this season, Jones recorded just eight turnovers, as compared to the 23 his rookie year.

What Jones has done with a rather weak wide receivers room is remarkable. Through 16 games, Jones has thrown for 3,205 yards, 15 touchdowns, and just five interceptions while completing 67.2-percent of his passes. Jones also ran for 708 yards and seven touchdowns on 120 carries.

As for the question of is Jones has done enough to stay, the answer is yes. It’s not just the fans saying it, the Giants organization reportedly feels that way as well. Prior to the Week 17 game against the Colts, NFL Network national insider Ian Rapoport reported that the Giants are expected to offer multi-year contracts to both Jones and running back Saquon Barkley, who is also having a career-resurgence.

When looking at the quarterback landscape this offseason, the Giants will be well out of range to select one of the top prospects like Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud. In terms of the free agency market, the options aren’t exactly the greatest. Realistically, Jones may be one of the better free agents, as he had his fifth-year option declined. So, why not keep him?

The Giants couldn’t exactly do much in their first offseason run by new general manager Joe Schoen, considering the cap hell that Gettleman left them in. They could keep Jones and bring in some quality wide receiver help to see what he can really do in the offense run by Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka.

To answer the question, yes, Jones has shown to be the Giants’ quarterback of the future.