Daniel Jones dead cap hit, explained: How QB’s release impacts Giants 2025 salary cap | Sporting News United Kingdom

The Daniel Jones era is over in New York.

On Friday, the Giants announced that Jones asked to be released and the team granted his request, officially ending the quarterback’s time as a Giant. This week, New York not only benched its quarterback of six years but demoted him to fourth string and used him as a scout-team safety during practice.

The release comes 20 months after the Giants gave Jones a four-year, $160 million contract, which means they will take on a significant cap penalty. New York was likely to release Jones in the offseason, so this move doesn’t change much about the team’s future planning.

Here is a look at the Giants’ salary cap as a result of Jones’ release.

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Daniel Jones dead cap hit, explained

With the release, the Giants will be responsible for a $22.2 million cap hit in 2025, allowing them to save over $19 million in cap space for next year.

For 2026, which would’ve been the final year of Jones’ deal, Jones will not have a dead cap hit for New York.

Releasing him now means the #Giants will take the full $22.21 million dead cap hit in 2025. Jones would’ve counted $41.605M against the cap if he were on the roster, so they save $19.395M in 2025 cap space (plus $30.5M cash) and Jones is off the books in 2026. https://t.co/gxV8j9HsKQ

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 22, 2024

With Jones hitting waivers, any team that puts in a claim would take on the entire contract and get the Giants off the hook. However, the expectation is that Jones will clear waivers, leaving the Giants to deal with the rest of the contract and allowing Jones to choose where he wants to play next.

The Giants benched Jones largely because he had an injury guarantee in his contract for 2025. New York didn’t want the quarterback to get injured and trigger the guarantee. Therefore, it was unlikely that Jones would have appeared in another game this year, even if Tommy DeVito played poorly or got injured, which is why Jones was demoted so far down the depth chart.

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Daniel Jones guaranteed money

As part of Jones’ $160 million deal with the Giants, the quarterback made $81 million fully guaranteed at signing. That will reach $105 million guaranteed over the four-year stretch.

All of that money will be paid to Jones by the end of this season, as there is no guaranteed money in the final two years of the deal.

MORE: Why Daniel Jones played safety on Giants’ scout team

Daniel Jones career earnings

Jones has made just over $108 million in his career so far, according to Spotrac.

The No. 6 overall pick in 2019, Jones’ rookie contract was worth just over $25 million over the first four years of his career. Once that deal expired, he signed his $160 million deal with the Giants. He will not make the full amount possible due to the release.

MORE: Explaining why Giants QB Tommy DeVito is called ‘Tommy Cutlets’

Giants QB depth chart

The Giants’ redone QB depth chart has DeVito at the top and newly signed veteran quarterback Tim Boyle as the third-stringer. DeVito started six games last year but spent most of this season serving as the third-string quarterback behind Jones and Lock.

Despite signing for $5 million with New York in the offseason, Lock remains the team’s backup as DeVito jumped him in the depth chart. Boyle, meanwhile, is well-traveled and spent time with the Dolphins earlier this year.