Jones agreed Wednesday to sign with the Vikings' practice squad after clearing waivers Monday, Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero and Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network report. After drawing interest from plenty of suitors upon getting waived by the Giants last week, Jones was eager to join a playoff-contending club and appears to have found a good landing spot in Minnesota. Though Sam Darnold will remain the Vikings' starting quarterback, Jones is expected to be elevated from the practice squad and serve as Darnold's backup once he gets up to speed with head coach Kevin O'Connell's offensive system. By joining the practice squad rather than Minnesota's 53-man roster, Jones will have the option to sign with another organization if a better opportunity emerges elsewhere later in the season before re-entering free agency this spring. Jones had started in each of the Giants' first 10 games of the season and completed 63.3 percent of his passes for 2,070 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions while carrying 67 times for 265 yards and two scores in that span.
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Jones agreed Wednesday to sign with the Vikings' practice squad after clearing waivers Monday, Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero and Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network report. After drawing interest from plenty of suitors upon getting waived by the Giants last week, Jones was eager to join a playoff-contending club and appears to have found a good landing spot in Minnesota. Though Sam Darnold will remain the Vikings' starting quarterback, Jones is expected to be elevated from the practice squad and serve as Darnold's backup once he gets up to speed with head coach Kevin O'Connell's offensive system. By joining the practice squad rather than Minnesota's 53-man roster, Jones will have the option to sign with another organization if a better opportunity emerges elsewhere later in the season before re-entering free agency this spring. Jones had started in each of the Giants' first 10 games of the season and completed 63.3 percent of his passes for 2,070 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions while carrying 67 times for 265 yards and two scores in that span.
Jones has eliminated the Raiders from consideration to be the next team he plays for, Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports reports. Las Vegas seemed to present a logical landing spot for Jones, especially after Gardner Minshew suffered a season-ending broken collarbone Sunday against Denver. However, Jones reportedly is interested in linking up with a postseason contender, which the 2-9 Raiders certainly are not. Schultz reports that Jones has "substantial interest" from multiple playoff teams, but it's unclear if any of those would give the former Giant a chance to compete for a starting role.
Jones has been contacted by 10 teams, including one team with whom he could become a starting candidate in Week 13, Jay Glazer reported on "Fox NFL Sunday." Jones reportedly would prefer to sign with a playoff contender, but it's interesting that there's at least one landing spot where he could step in as a starter. The quarterback was waived Friday and is expected to formally clear waivers Monday, at which point he would be able to sign with a team.
The Giants announced Friday that they're waiving Jones. The team's statement says Jones asked to be released and was granted his request. He'll now be subject to waivers, although his large contract presumably ensures nobody will put in a claim, which means he'll soon be a free agent and able to sign with any team. Offset language in the contract means Jones has no immediate incentive to sign for more than the veteran's minimum, much like Steelers QB Russell Wilson this past offseason. As such, Jones should find work soon enough if he so desires, be it as a backup for a contender or a potential late-season starter for a non-contender with QB woes. The Giants, meanwhile, are moving forward with Tommy DeVito as their starting quarterback and Drew Lock in the backup role.
Head coach Brian Daboll confirmed Monday that Jones will serve as the Giants' No. 3 quarterback moving forward, Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com reports. In his press conference, Daboll didn't go into specifics about why he elected to drop Jones from first to third on the depth chart, but the decision is almost certainly related to the quarterback's contract, which would guarantee him $23 million for 2025 if he were to suffer an injury at any point over the remainder of the season. Though New York plans to make Jones a healthy inactive as the emergency third quarterback for its final seven games, he'll remain with the team and could still trigger the injury guarantee if he gets hurt in a team activity, per Patricia Traina of SI.com. Tommy DeVito will take over as the Giants' starting quarterback beginning with Sunday's game against the Buccaneers, while Drew Lock will remain in the top backup role as New York plays out the string on a non-contending campaign before presumably cutting bait with Jones this offseason.
The Giants are in line to turn from Jones to Tommy DeVito as their starting quarterback Sunday against the Buccaneers, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. Following the team's bye week, the 2-8 Giants plan to turn the offense over to DeVito, rather than previous No. 2 QB Drew Lock. Aside from the team's record and the poor level of his play this season, Jordan Raanan of ESPN notes that the Giants also had to factor in that there is a $23 million injury guarantee in Jones' contract for 2025 that kicks in if the QB gets injured and is unable to pass a physical in the offseason.
Coach Brian Daboll was noncommittal about Jones' status as the Giants' starting quarterback moving forward, Charlotte Carroll of The Athletic reports. "We're going to spend a lot of time watching tape and evaluating," Daboll said Monday. "We're evaluating our team at the bye week." The Giants enter their Week 11 bye with a 2-8 record, and Jones hasn't exactly been lighting it up, completing 63 percent of his passes for 2,070 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions, taking 67 carries for 265 yards and two TDs and fumbling four times (two lost). Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, Jones has an injury guarantee in his contract for $23 million if he gets hurt and isn't able to pass a physical by March. As a result, the team may consider a change under center from Jones to backup Drew Lock, and the bye week could be just the time to make such a decision.
Jones completed 22 of 37 passes for 190 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions in Sunday's 20-17 overtime loss to the Panthers. He added seven rushes for 26 yards and a touchdown. Jones and the Giants offense got off to a miserable start, as he completed only six of 14 passes for 54 yards with an interception through two quarters. He managed to pick up his performance in the second half, highlighted by lengthy completions of 23 and 19 yards. Jones also found the end zone on a two-yard run midway through the fourth quarter. While he managed to salvage his day, Jones has now failed to throw for a touchdown in four of his last five games and has been held under 200 passing yards on three occasions in that span.
Jones completed 20 of 26 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns while rushing seven times for 54 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's 27-22 loss to the Commanders. He also lost a fumble. Jones produced his first MetLife Stadium touchdown in 672 days with a two-yard touchdown pass to Chris Manhertz in the second quarter, but the much-maligned quarterback finished the first half with zero passing yards. He thought he had a three-yard touchdown pass to Wan'Dale Robinson in the third quarter, but it was called back due to a questionable offensive pass interference penalty. There was no doubt about Jones' two-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter, which was his first rushing score of the season and part of his second-highest rushing yardage total of the season, two shy of Jones' 56 rushing yards against the Bengals in Week 6. Jones tacked on a 35-yard touchdown pass to Theo Johnson later in the fourth, but the Giants' comeback attempt came up short, dropping New York to 2-7 heading into a Week 10 matchup against the Panthers in Munich, Germany.