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New York Giants Mailbag: Daniel Jones Fallout, the Cap, and More

Checking in with New York Giants fans to see what's on their minds.

Patricia Traina

New York Giants Mailbag
New York Giants Mailbag / Patricia Traina | New York Giants on SI
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Wrote about that here. Tommy DeVito, while appreciative of how his story launched last season, appears to want to tone down some of the off-field stuff. So, who knows? That said I think the Giants have bigger fish to fry than to dictate to the television crews who to show and who not to.

I’m sure Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll consulted with John Mara and Steve Tisch given the magnitude of the decision. I’m also sure the agent was involved in the discussion. But I think the ones who had the most influence on the decision are the 230,000 Ben Franklins.

As in did he want to stay or leave? I’m sure they did and I’m also sure they told him they didn’t need an answer right at that moment.   

Sure it’s possible–unlikely, but possible. I think though he’d have to clear waivers first. And if he did land with another team, whatever his new base salary is, that would offset some of what the Giants still owe him for the rest of this year. So we’re probably not talking about massive savings.

His salary is already baked into their cap, meaning it was already accounted for before the season began. So even though he’s no longer on the roster (or won’t be probably as of Monday since the transaction wasn’t officially processed by the league), as far as the accounting goes for this year, it’s as if he never left. Where the savings kick in is next year.

According to Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network, Jones volunteered to help out on the scout team. So no, I don’t think that was a factor in his request to be released.

I think Jones slept on all that happened and probably figured that his hanging around might not be in his or the team’s best interest. And I can’t say I blame him.

I haven’t really studied the rest of the league to know for sure, but what I do know is that this constant turnover of coaching staffs has NOT done this franchise any good.

There have been times when guys were acquired for a certain system and then along comes another coaching staff that wants something different which results in talented guys leaving. That’s why I think, despite the record at the end of this year, the Giants have to stick with Schoen and Daboll for at least another season.

Ask him. I'm not authorized to speak for him.

Never say never, but I think a more realistic expectation is that DeVito can use this opportunity to move into the No. 2 spot next year. Let’s go back to last offseason.

If DeVito played that well, wouldn’t he have had a chance to compete for the No. 2 spot with Drew Lock?

I’m sure he knows the whole playbook, but that said, the coaches usually pick out a limited number of plays to run any given week, and those plays are usually tailored to the strengths of the personnel deployed and how best to attack the opponent's weaknesses.

Run a poll and I'll retweet it if I see it.

Thanks Kris. Daniel is a class act and a true professional.

Why didn't the Giants acknowledge the risk of guaranteed money in announcing the demotion of Jones so that it doesn't sound like he's being made a scapegoat simply for poor play?  Didn't Jones create the predicament by having that provision in his contract? 

The McLoud and Jones situations were as much about money as about their play (especially with McLoud).  Why hasn't a single Giants player (Dex? Burns?) acknowledged that instead of simplistically framing it as Management being indifferent to the players?  Is it because that would not play well with their teammates? – Peter D.

They can’t, Peter. If they so much as hint that the injury guarantee was any iota of a factor, they’d have the NFLPA on their backsides faster than the speed of light and if the union files and wins a grievance, that could lead to hefty fines and/or loss of draft picks. 

My guess is Jones’s agent requested the injury guarantee given the player’s history. It was meant to protect his interest. Obviously no one was thinking that things would end as they did.

As for your second question, why would players throw present and former teammates under the bus by suggesting that those who were cut simply didn’t play well? Why would any player question another man’s contract?

Remember when Tiki Barber did that when Michael Strahan was going through a contract dispute with management years ago? Tiki was heavily chastised by teammates and the media for taking management’s side and speaking out against Strahan. So yeah, of course, players are going to support each other, even if they know the play wasn’t that great.

I just was reaching out to see what you thought about the Daniel Jones situation. Looking through a breakdown of his contract he has possible incentives at 60-65% of his snap count as well as the Giants possibly cutting him and taking on the dead money due to a only half guaranteed 2025 contract.

You are the most knowledgeable person I have on LinkedIn about QB contracts and what not, do you think this is a legitimate explanation for the Giants actions this week in practice? And if so, why is no one covering it? – Nick V.

Nick, first, thank you for the kind words. MEant to get to this question and the next one on the Locked On Giants podcast, but things got messed up with the Jones news.

Did Jones have incentives in his contract? Yes–I can't remember off the top of my head what they were, but they were tied into him finishing as a top 15, top 10 and top five quarterback in certain statistical categories, and I think there were also some playoff incentives in there as well.

But no, he didn’t have “half” of a guaranteed contract in 2025. All the “fully guaranteed at signing” money ends this year. 

What I think you’re referring to was the other guaranteed money which was tied into conditions. (Yes, there are two types of guaranteed money–at signing which means the player gets that money regardless of what happens, and then the conditional guaranteed money which he gets if a condition is met.)

For instance, if he was on the roster at the start of the league year, $12 million of his $30 million base salary would have converted to guaranteed money (this is for the purpose of if they had to restructure the deal, Jones would have had to receive $12 million regardless of the restructuring). 

If he was on the roster by the fifth day of the league year and could not pass a physical due to a football related injury, then instead of the $12 million being guaranteed, that number would have jumped up to $23 million.  

Cutting Jones right now doesn’t affect their cap for this year since the total was baked in. Thanks to the timing, they can’t designate him as a post-June 1 cut next year because we are still in the 2024 league year and it’s past June 1.

(He would have had to have been cut next year for them to use the post-June 1 designation, though why would they, given the cap savings?)  

Also, I think enough of us in the media did cover the fact that Jones's participation in practice was significantly limited due to the injury guarantee. I know I did.

A couple quick questions regarding Jones and his contract now that his time with the Giants is all but over.  The start of the 2025 season is March 12th at 4pm.  My questions are (1) would there be any financial benefit to cutting DJ now or before the start of next season compared to after?  (2) If we cut DJ and another team picks him up, will that team take on the $23M we owe DJ for 2025?  

The reason I ask is because I'm interested in the idea of potentially trading DJ.  We're already on the hook for $23M in 2025.  If there's no financial benefit to cutting DJ before the start of the season, why not try to get something for him in return?  There are plenty of QB needy teams.  Why not work something out financially where we still pay all, or most, of the $23M and see if we can get an extra day-3 pick? – Patrick W.

Patrick, I’m answering this after the announcement that Jones has been cut. Let me start off by saying that I highly doubt any team was going to trade for Jones’s contract next year, not with a $30 million base salary and given how inconsistent he’s played.

Teams likely knew that because $12 million of his $30 million base salary was going to be guaranteed if he was on the roster to start the new league year that the Giants were not going to let that guarantee happen. So why trade away assets when you know the guy is going to be cut?

Secondly, the Giants have to eat $22.210 million in dead money next year on that contract (the prorated signing bonus). You really think it’s a good idea to offer to eat additional dead money just to facilitate a trade that like I said, probably had less than one percent of happening? 

To your first question, no, there was no financial benefit to cutting Jones now versus waiting until next year. And to your second question, the $23 million is the injury guarantee number. His base salary for 2025 was $30 million. 

The way it works is that if a player gets claimed off waivers–and Jones has to pass through waivers at this point–the team who puts in a claim gets awarded his contract as is minus the prorated signing bonus, which stays on the original team’s books. 

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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