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Will the 49ers Sign Former New York Giants Quarterback Daniel Jones?

The 49ers need a backup quarterback and the New York Giants just released Daniel Jones. Will the 49ers sign him?

Grant Cohn

Nov 10, 2024; Munich, Germany; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) carries the ball against the New York Giants in the second half during the 2024 NFL Munich Game at Allianz Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Nov 10, 2024; Munich, Germany; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) carries the ball against the New York Giants in the second half during the 2024 NFL Munich Game at Allianz Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers need a backup quarterback and the New York Giants just released Daniel Jones. Will the 49ers sign him?

Keep in mind, the 49ers' backup quarterbacks currently are Brandon Allen and Joshua Dobbs. Their combined career win-loss record is 5-18. So neither one would offer the 49ers much hope if Brock Purdy were to miss a game or two with shoulder soreness. The 49ers haven't yet ruled out Purdy for Sunday's game against the Packers, but he had an MRI on Thursday, and general manager John Lynch said Purdy's status is "tenuous."

If Purdy can't play, Lynch said that Allen will start in his place. And as of now, it seems quite realistic that Allen will have to start. And it's possible Allen will beat Green Bay -- funny things happen in sports. But it's much more likely that he'll lose and play poorly. His career win-loss record is 2-7. He should be a third-string quarterback at best.

So why not sign Jones?

He's better than Allen, he has lots of playing experience and he never has been on a team as good as the 49ers. It's possible the supporting cast could elevate his performance the way it elevated Jimmy Garoppolo once upon a time. Jones isn't worse than him.

Of course, I don't expect the 49ers to sign Jones. Doing so would be bold. It would be much easier to do nothing, start Allen, lose and say, "Oh well."

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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