Brian Daboll’s shocking Jayden Daniels admission prior to 2024 NFL Draft

Daniel Jones being on the hot seat for the New York Giants is hardly anything new. The team is bound to make a big move for a new quarterback at some point. They almost did in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Jones’ only competition for his job coming into next season are Drew Lock, who signed a one-year with New York, and Tommy DeVito, who started six games last season but was eventually benched. In the time leading up to the draft, there were a lot of rumors stating that the Giants were interested in trading up for Drake Maye. They didn’t end up making any traction toward that move but Maye also wasn’t the only trade-up-worthy quarterback on their radar.

The teaser for the next episode of “Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants” features a clip of head coach Brian Daboll saying that he would be okay trading up for Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels.

“Daniels. Have you guys seen enough that you would trade up for him?” asked Giants general manager Joe Schoen.

“Daniels? I would,” responded Daboll.

In the end, the Giants ended up staying pat at sixth overall and drafted wide receiver Malik Nabers, Daniels’ teammate at LSU. The Washington Commanders chose Daniels second overall and Maye went with the next pick to the New England Patriots. New York seemingly plans to have Jones start the year under center one more time before his contract becomes easier to ditch.

Giants ready to move on from Daniel Jones when time is right

Much of this conversation with Schoen, Daboll and other team personnel seems simply like due diligence. But it is somewhat noteworthy that Daboll was okay with sacrificing more draft capital to trade up for Daniels, who was widely seen as the weakest of the three top QBs in this draft (himself, Maye and Caleb Williams). Hard Knocks showed the interviews the Giants did with the quarterback prospects and Daniels amused Daboll by responding to an answer about what to do on a specific play with “throw a touchdown.”

A team with a high draft pick interviewing prospects and thinking highly of them is nothing super out of the ordinary but with the Giants’ quarterback woes, any insight into how they might go about filling the position next is interesting. Paying Jones a lucrative new contract has, to put it gently, not worked out. Due to injuries and Jones seemingly learning nothing from his first season playing under Daboll, New York is on the prowl for a new quarterback.

Although the Giants aren’t a truly elite team, they do have some nice complementary pieces for a rookie QB. Nabers, Jalin Hyatt and Wan’Dale Robinson make for an interesting, young wide receiver core, the offensive line should be better and the defense has a lot of potential with the duo of Brian Burns and Dexter Lawrence.

Jones has been focusing on his recovery from an ACL tear, which he said recently has not had any setbacks. For his final attempt to prove he can be a franchise guy, he will at least be healthy.