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The New York Giants finally pulled the plug on Monday, placing quarterback Daniel Jones (neck) on injured reserve and ending his season.
With Jones now shelved, the discussion on his future begins. The Giants will soon have to make a decision on his fifth-year option and then determine if a quarterback will be targeted in April’s draft.
However, in the mind of head coach Joe Judge, those decisions have already been made. He’s been firm in his commitment to Jones and that didn’t change after Monday’s decision to shut the quarterback down for the year.
“He worked really hard in the offseason, made a lot of gains. Saw a lot of progress throughout different parts of the season with him. You want to get Daniel on the field. It’s a quarterback-driven league and obviously Daniel’s our quarterback,” Judge told reporters.
“I’ve seen enough growth from Daniel to tell us that he’s a guy we want to go ahead and play with. In terms of the business aspect of it and different things, I’ll let different departments of this organization handle that stuff.”
Judge was careful to skirt around the fifth-year option decision but again made it clear that his anchor is tied to Jones. He’s never swayed from that and it won’t change now that Jones’ season is over.
When the Giants inevitably part ways with general manager Dave Gettleman, Judge’s determination to keep Jones may come into play, however. If the incoming GM doesn’t believe in DJ, friction will exist immediately. But for the Giants, there’s no sense in worrying about that until the bridge is crossed.
For now, as of late December of 2021, the Giants and Judge remain committed to Jones long-term.
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