The days of Danny Dimes in the Big Apple might well have come to their conclusion.
Daniel Jones has been benched as the Giants’ starting quarterback, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday morning.
Tommy DeVito will start over Jones and veteran Drew Lock, who has spent the season as the No. 2 QB, on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported.
Giants coach Brian Daboll confirmed the QB switch later Monday, adding that Lock will serve as DeVito's backup and Jones will be New York's QB3.
"We're obviously not playing the way any of us want to play, and that's on all of us," Daboll said. "But I felt like this was a decision that we needed to make here and try to spark things, change things up, and we went and did it with Tommy."
Jones, the No. 6 overall selection of the 2019 NFL Draft, has been the Giants’ franchise quarterback since taking over for Eli Manning in Week 3 of his rookie season.
A week after Daboll told reporters he would be “evaluating things” as it related to Jones remaining his starter, the evaluation has resulted in a change that is likely to signal a massive alteration for the franchise going forward.
Giants general manager Joe Schoen told reporters Tuesday that the team would make a decision based on what was best for New York on the field, not a monetary one as it relates to a $23 million injury guarantee for Jones in 2025 -- a situation similar to the 2022 Las Vegas Raiders with Derek Carr and last season with the Denver Broncos and Russell Wilson. After this season, Jones has no remaining guaranteed salary remaining on his contract.
Daboll said Monday that, unlike Carr with the Raiders, Jones will remain with the team this season after his benching. Whether he will be back with New York in 2025 is less certain.
"We're just focused here on this week and the decision that we made to get these guys ready to go," Daboll added when asked about Jones' future. "That's where our focus is."
In 10 starts this season, Jones has thrown just eight touchdowns to seven interceptions, having gone without a TD pass in six games. He’s thrown for 2,070 yards, just 6.1 yards per attempt and has a 79.4 passer rating.
The Giants going to DeVito over Lock is a bit of a surprise. New York signed Lock, a former second-round pick, to a one-year, $5 million deal in the offseason, with nearly all the money guaranteed, to serve as Jones' backup. Lock has appeared in just two games so far this season, completing three of eight passes for 6 yards.
DeVito, meanwhile, started six games for the team last season with a 3-3 record, throwing for 1,101 yards, eight touchdowns and three interceptions.
The undrafted second-year QB's familiarity and success in Daboll's offense played a factor in the Giants' decision to go with him over Lock to replace Jones, Rapoport and Pelissero reported.
"I've got a lot of confidence in Drew, the way he's handled himself since he's been here, and he handled this well, too, being a professional," Daboll said, explaining his decision to opt for DeVito over Lock. "Tommy, we've been with Tommy here for a little bit. He's done a nice job throughout practices here, but also we have something to lean on by going back and watching him operate some of our stuff from last year.
"This is no indication on Drew whatsoever. He's been excellent for us. It was more about what I felt Tommy gave us."
Jones has been under scrutiny all season as New York has stumbled to a 2-8 record, and his career has largely been played amid just as much examination.
The Duke product’s succession of Manning was largely celebrated, as he was superstar for a New York minute when he threw for 336 yards and two touchdowns in his first NFL start, guiding the 2019 Giants to their first win against, as it just so happens, the Buccaneers -- Big Blue's upcoming opponent. However, Jones’ career would become a mishmash of highs with his arm and legs and lows with consistency, mounting losses and different coaches leading him.
In his first four seasons, Jones played for three head coaches. The last was Daboll, who took over in 2022, when Jones had largely his best year statistically, his only winning season and his only playoff berth. After going 9-7-1, Jones also quarterbacked New York to a wild-card playoff win against the Minnesota Vikings before getting waxed by the Philadelphia Eagles in the Divisional Round.
In the clarity of hindsight, that run of success in Daboll’s first year created an ill-timed domino effect.
The Giants’ first winning season since 2016 led to Jones getting a quickly maligned four-year, $160 million contract, while star running back Saquon Barkley got only a franchise tag that led to a reworked one-year extension.
Barkley subsequently signed with the Eagles this past offseason and is flourishing, as Jones has been floundering, and Big Blue along with him.
Jones’ final start came in Munich, with the Giants losing to the Panthers as Jones threw a pair of interceptions.
Across five-plus seasons, Jones’ QB record sits at 24-44-1, having completed 1,437 of 2,241 passes (64.1%) for 14,582 yards, 70 touchdowns and 47 interceptions to go along with 2,179 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns.
The man deemed to be the future under center by the previous regime is now being moved on from by the current powers that be in Gotham. Jones’ future is as uncertain as ever, but it would seem the Giants’ will be one in which they begin searching for another franchise QB.