One day after Daniel Jones all but said goodbye to the New York Giants at his press conference by reading a statement, the team officially said goodbye to the quarterback.
On Friday, the Giants shockingly released Jones after five-plus seasons. The move came after Jones approached team president John Mara and asked to be released, which the Giants granted him.
Jones had been demoted to QB4 and wasn’t going to play another snap this season, so the Giants did right by him and will now allow him to play elsewhere after he clears waivers. With a $160 million contract, this decision obviously has huge salary cap implications.
According to Spotrac, the Giants will take on $47.1 million in dead money this year and $22.2 million in 2025. By releasing Jones, the Giants free up $19.4 million in cap space next year as his cap hit will drop from $41.61 million to $22.21 million.
The #Giants release of QB Daniel Jones leaves behind dead cap hits of:
2024: $47.1M
2025: $22.2MNYG frees up $19.4M of cap for the 2025 season.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) November 22, 2024
The Giants signed Jones to a four-year, $160 million extension in March of 2023, only for that contract to be restructured six months later. With his release, he only played a year and a half of that lucrative extension, leaving behind almost $70 million in dead money.