Former NFL GM Dumbfounded by Giants’ Loyalty to Daniel Jones

Despite all the publicized work the New York Giants did on this year’s quarterbacks class, the team did not make a selection.

Simply put, the only signal caller the Giants felt worthy of a draft pick was North Carolina’s Drake Maye, a quarterback they tried to trade up for to get, only to be rejected by the New England Patriots, whose draft spot they coveted (and who also coveted Maye).

With plenty of options left on the board, the Giants, through their due diligence, decided to pass on a passer and “listen” to their draft board, which “told” them there were better options to pursue.

 “I wasn’t surprised at all by that,” former NFL general manager turned analyst Michael Lombardi told The Sports Junkies on 106.7 The Fan in DC this week. “If you listened to what (Giatns co-owner) John Mara said at the owners’ meetings … he said very clearly, ‘I’ll favor them drafting a quarterback if they’re in love.’ And he used the word ‘love.’

“I think they were in love with Drake Maye, but I don’t think they were in love with J.J. McCarthy.”

Obviously, But getting back on track, “love” is a word that comes with varying degrees of intensity. The Giants reportedly were willing to offer their first- and second-round picks this year plus their first-round pick next year to move up for a quarterback that they “loved” enough to make the offer despite having other needs to fill but didn’t “love” enough to move heaven and earth to get.  

Instead, they pivoted toward LSU receiver Malik Nabers in the first round of the NFL draft, someone they “loved” and who could help whoever the quarterback is for the next five seasons. 

Jones? The Giants are trying to make the best of a sticky situation in part due to the guaranteed money on his contract, in part due to their hopes that the upgrades made around the inconsistent quarterback with the concerning injury history help him become a quarterback worthy of the $47+ million cap hit he carries this season, and in part because it would have been more foolish had they reached for a pick they did not truly feel would benefit them i the long-term. 

Lombardi isn’t confident the Giants, whose head coach Brian Daboll has been know to work some magic with developing quarterbacks, will be able to do so with Jones a second time around. 

“Nothing would make them more happy than Daniel Jones being successful,” he said. “They’re almost willing it to happen. It won’t, but they’re hoping it will.”

Lombardi opined that the Giants make “bad decisions” regarding their player personnel, cherry-picking facts to support his argument. The facts are cherry-picked. 

For instance, he points to Mara as being the reason why Jones got the four-year, $160 million deal that he got, but declined to mention that Jones was not only coming off a winning season that led to a playoff berth but the Giants, because of that, were drafting so low in the 2023 draft order that they had no chance of drafting a quarterback unless they were willing to give up the farm–an unwise move for a franchise that has so many holes.

Lombardi also failed to note that the Giants have an escape hatch in Jones’s deal that opens after this season. Had they been successful in their quest to land Drake Maye (why else would they have tried to move up if they didn’t think he was a better long-term option?), that hatch would have been used at the end of this season.

So yes, Jones is the incumbent for now—and even that’s not a guarantee given that he’s recovering from a torn ACL, with several months before the season begins and no full guarantee he’ll be cleared medically. 

That’s why the Giants went and got Drew Lock, himself a former No. 1 draft pick by Denver. The hope is that Lock will acclimate to the Giants’ offense and finally blossom into the quarterback many people thought he might become.

He’ll get plenty of opportunities to do so, as it would be surprising if Jones is cleared to play in any of the preseason games, let alone if he gets the full green light to do everything at the start of training camp.

But it is simply ludicrous to suggest that the Giants are so blinded by their love of Jones that they’d find every possible excuse to keep him around.