Daniel Jones is in the last year of his rookie contract. The New York Giants opted not to exercise his fifth-year option, putting Jones’ future, and the future of the franchise, in limbo.
But retired Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora thinks the new regime in New York should reconsider their stance on Jones.
Umenyiora spoke at a recent roundtable media session regarding Jones and the Giants.
“It’s my team, but they’re in a bit of a problem right here because, you wouldn’t say Daniel Jones is Patrick Mahomes right? You wouldn’t say that, but he’s a good quarterback and he’s shown that he’s a pretty good quarterback,” Umenyiora said, via Give Me Sport. “So now what do you do? If you don’t resign him who are you going to bring in that’s going to be better?
“There’s no quarterback in college right now, who I would say for sure is going to be better than Daniel Jones is at this particular juncture, at least is going to develop. So the New York Giants are right there, what do you do? Do you feel like, ‘okay, now we’re going go draft the guy.’ Even if you draft the guy with the way they’re playing, they’re going to be drafted him late, so you’re not going to get one of the elite quarterbacks. And who out there would you say is better than him?
“So you’re in a bit of a situation where you almost have to sign him, because nobody’s really going to be better, even if you don’t think that he’s the long-term answer for you at the position. You’re kind of stuck there, and I think he’s going to be with the Giants for the next couple of years.”
Umenyiora isn’t wrong. There are a handful of quarterbacks in college who will eventually play on Sundays and be household names, but the Giants have a legitimate chance at the playoffs this season. How do you go from a post-season team to starting over with a new QB? Even with the added cap space in 2023, the free agent options are less than inspiring.
Whether the Giants believe this is the path or not remains to be seen, but if Jones continues to play well, there’s a chance he will stay in New York.
