New York Giants pull the plug on Daniel Jones in unexpected twist: Best memes, tweets

After five-plus seasons and more baffling turnovers than we can mention here, the New York Giants have finally, mercifully seen enough of Daniel Jones. Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, the team has decided to bench its erstwhile starting quarterback, with Tommy DeVito set to start New York's game on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Benching Jones makes sense for a couple of reasons. The first is that, well, he's just not very good: New York is 2-8 after a humiliating loss to the Carolina Panthers in Germany this past weekend, and Jones ranks 26th out of 31 qualified passers in QBR. The second is that putting him on the shelf now makes it far easier for the Giants to move on from the former top-10 pick this offseason.

At this point, it's clear that Jones isn't the answer under center. It's been an open secret for weeks now that New York plans to cut Jones next spring, when it can get out from under his massive contract while incurring just $22 million in dead cap money. The only thing that could've gotten in the way is an injury: If Jones had gotten hurt playing out the string of a lost season, a $23 million injury guaranteed would've kicked in for 2025, money that would've forced New York to choose between keeping him or seriously mucking up its cap sheet.

Now that he's safely on the bench, though, Jones is as good as gone — and Giants fans can officially celebrate the prospect of somebody, anybody playing quarterback for their team both now and in the years to come. Sure, New York is still a long way from contention. But you need to take the wins where you can get them, and boy did they ever.

Giants fans can't help but rejoice after New York benches Daniel Jones

Look, you can hardly blame New York for feeling a little giddy. 2022's postseason run notwithstanding, it's been painfully clear for a while now that Jones simply wasn't good enough to get this team where it needed to go. Yet, in spite of that, the team still decided to tie itself to him with a massive four-year, $160 million contract extension. Which has gone ... well, pretty much exactly the way we all thought it would: Jones has gone 3-13 since, with just 10 TDs and 13 INTs.

Now, at least, there's a glimmer of hope. This is expected to be a fairly weak draft class at quarterback, and there are many other needs to address on this roster. Plus, both GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll have plenty to prove in their own right. But finally cutting ties with Jones is the first step, and at least the Giants can watch their team over the next few weeks knowing that they're finally free — and that every loss brings them one step closer to the first pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.