New York Giants fans may have seen the last of quarterback Tommy DeVito for a while on Saturday night in the Giants’ 10-6 preseason loss to the Jets.
DeVito played all 67 offensive snaps in the game with the Giants sitting both starter Daniel Jones and his primary backup, Drew Lock.
With roster cuts looming over the next 48 hours, head coach Brian Daboll was non-committal about what the composition of his roster will look like come Tuesday’s 4:00 p.m. EDT cutdown deadline. He usually favors carrying just two quarterbacks into the season.
When it comes to carrying three quarterbacks, Daboll said he had to “look at the tape” on DeVito and no decisions would be made right away about his status.
“We’ve discussed that,” Daboll after the game on Saturday night. “We’ll discuss it here over the next couple of days and, again, try to do what we think is best for the team.”
Over the summer, DeVito told the Giants that if they exposed him to free agency or the waiver wire, they run a good chance of losing him to another team.
DeVito has improved since last year at this time. He knows it, but do the Giants? Keep in mind, he did win three straight games for them last year and Lock has not exactly impressed thus far this summer.
“100 percent,” DeVito responded when asked after the game how much better he felt about his game this year as compared to last year. “I think more of it, like I said before many times, it’s all mental. Between the ears, just learning as much as I can because I’ve taken so many reps since I was a little kid throwing the ball. Obviously it’s very different at this level, but, you know, everything is between the ears.
“The more you watch film, the more you get in the room with Dabes and Shea (Tierney) and Kaf (Mike Kafka) and DJ (Daniel Jones ) and Drew and all the other guys and really just pick each other’s brains, the more that you’ll grow. So I’m looking forward to it.”
Daboll reiterated that he had full confidence in DeVito, but he can be confident from the practice squad. If the Giants do waive DeVito, they will certainly seek to sign him back to the practice squad at the very least.
With Jones’ injury history and Lock only here on a one-year contract, it would seem logical to keep a quarterback who knows the offense in the fold.
But teams could come along and add DeVito to their 53-man roster. Quarterbacks are at a premium in this league, and with a better cast around him, DeVito could be a wise addition for many teams.
Ideally, the Giants would like to keep DeVito around even if it means him not taking another snap in 2024.
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