The New York Giants haven’t exactly had the smoothest ride trying to solve their quarterback issues over the past few seasons.
Handing Daniel Jones a $160 million contract turned out to be one of the most regrettable decisions in recent franchise history.
It’s a move that still haunts the front office’s books, leaving fans frustrated and ownership wondering how they ever let it happen.
How the Giants ended up overpaying for Daniel Jones
After declining Jones’ fifth-year option, the Giants basically dared him to prove his worth in 2022.
To his credit, Jones stunned everyone by upsetting the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card round, driving up his stock overnight.
That single playoff win pushed New York into a corner, and they paid dearly for it.
Jones landed a four-year mega deal worth $160 million—money the Giants now wish they had stashed elsewhere.
His agent, A.J. Stevens of Athletes First, recently opened up about how wild the negotiations really were.
“It was absurd at the time,” Stevens admitted on the ‘NFL Spotlight with Ari Meirov’ podcast. “Looking back, it’s still absurd.”
He even said the deal might be the “most memorable” contract of his career, describing it as a “buzzer-beater” with seconds left before the deadline.
Daniel Jones quickly fell back to earth
Jones never even reached the third season of that colossal contract.
In 2023, he suffered a torn ACL after a rocky start that included more interceptions than fans want to remember.
He finished the year completing just 63.3% of his passes for 2,007 yards, eight touchdowns and seven picks—a stat line that didn’t justify the gamble.
By the time the 2024 season rolled around, the Giants had seen enough, cutting him and absorbing the bitter pill of dead cap space.
Jones then signed a modest one-year, $14 million deal with the Indianapolis Colts, hoping to reboot his career as their expected starter in 2025.
The Giants’ new direction under center
Meanwhile, general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll made a clean break from the Jones era.
They brought in Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston as stopgaps, then drafted Jaxson Dart with the 25th pick, hoping he could blossom into their future.
It’s clear the Giants learned a painful lesson about paying too much, too soon for a quarterback who hadn’t truly proven he could sustain success.
Sometimes, one overzealous decision is like grabbing a hot pan—by the time you feel the burn, it’s already too late.
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The light at the end of the tunnel for Big Blue
Thankfully for New York, 2025 is likely the last season where they’ll carry dead money from the Jones mistake.
Once that’s off the books, the Giants can finally breathe easier and invest properly around Dart and their young core.
This entire saga stands as a cautionary tale that even the best-intentioned contracts can backfire spectacularly.
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