The New York Giants were heavily criticized by many pundits and fans for putting a ton of chips on quarterback Daniel Jones this offseason.
The Giants don’t care. They got their man.
At the NFL owners’ meetings in Arizona on Monday, Giants co-owner John Mara says you have to look deeper than the stat sheet when it comes to Jones.
“I’m very pleased,” Mara said. “It’s the type of individual you want to represent your franchise. He had a terrific year last year. He’s young. And I think if we put the right pieces around him, how high he could climb. So, I was very pleased about that.”
The Giants were fortunate to have players such as Eli Manning and Michael Strahan as the face of their franchise for nearly two decades. They want that to continue by committing to players who are pillars of society such as Jones and running back Saquon Barkley.
When it comes to building a team around Jones, who has been largely inconsistent over his first four years, Mara says the Giants have to continue to improve around Jones help him realize his potential like they did recently by trading for Pro Bowl tight end Darren Waller and signing speedy wide receiver Parris Campbell.
“We’ve got to put the right pieces around him. He can’t do it all by himself,” Mara said. “But I think he showed how good a quarterback he could be this year. And if we can continue to improve our roster, I think there’s no limit as to how well he can play. He has the type of mentality you want, too. He works hard. He’s a great leader. Players really gravitate toward him. So, he’s exactly what you want.”
We’ll see if the four-year, $160 million investment pays off but you can’t knock Mara off his spot. He’s been in Jones’ corner from Day 1.
“I had a lot of confidence that he was our guy,” Mara said. “We obviously made the decision not to exercise the fifth-year option (last year). I couldn’t have been more pleased that he played as well as he did. I think it became pretty apparent, by midseason anyway, that he was going to be the guy. You could just see he was playing with more confidence. I think he believed in the offensive system that we had there. And just watching the way the players reacted to him, too, gave us all a lot of confidence that he was the guy.”
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