Getty Will Daniel Jones be the starting quarterback of the New York Giants in 2024?
New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen addressed the media at the start of the Week 13 bye on November 27, and he fielded several questions on injured quarterback Daniel Jones and the possibility of drafting a new QB in 2024.
“The expectation is when Daniel’s healthy that he will be our starting quarterback,” Schoen stated right out of the gates.
However, the NYG GM did not rule out also spending his first-round selection on a QB prospect next April.
“No that doesn’t,” Schoen began after being asked if his vote of confidence in Jones means that the Giants won’t draft a rookie signal-caller. “I think we’re going to have to do something in the quarterback [room], whether it’s free agency or the draft… Tyrod [Taylor’s] contract’s up, [Tommy] DeVito is obviously under contract and Daniel, we don’t know when he’s going to be ready.”
Due to the uncertainty of Jones’ recovery timeline, plus Taylor’s free agent status, Schoen noted that Big Blue will “have to address” the quarterback position “at some point” next offseason.
Later, the NYG boss also reiterated that the Giants will “take the best player available” in the draft, no matter what position that may be. “We won’t shy away from it,” Schoen voiced, despite adding that April is still “a ways away.”
Joe Schoen was asked if the Giants would take a quarterback in the first round:
“We’ll take the best player available. If the best player available for our team is at a certain position, we’ll take it.”
Giants’ Joe Schoen Stresses There Is ‘No Guarantee’ Daniel Jones Will Be Ready Week 1 of Next Season
There are a lot of factors at play here. For starters, Schoen and the Giants handed Jones a four-year extension last spring, and they’re still on the hook for a $47.105 million cap hit in 2024.
The only way Big Blue could recoup some of that cap hit next season is by trading Jones — but that’s very unlikely given his price tag and his injuries. The second factor is said injuries.
“I’m not getting into the specifics of the surgery, [but] it went well,” Schoen told reporters on Jones. “The recovery, it depends. I’ve seen guys come back in eight months [and] we have some that still aren’t back that had [surgery] a year ago.”
Schoen also made it clear that there is “no guarantee [Jones is] going to be back Week 1,” reiterating that the front office will have to address the position in some way, shape or form next spring.
Finally, there’s scouting new QB prospects, which is a whole different conversation of its own.
Giants GM Joe Schoen Explains Belief in Daniel Jones, Weighs the Idea of Drafting a New QB
This QB discussion kept coming up throughout the half-hour-long press conference between Schoen and Giants media, as you’d expect.
At one point, the general manager explained his continued belief in Jones.
“I mean, I’ve seen it,” Schoen replied. “You guys have all [seen] last season. The guy won 10 games. He won a road playoff game for the Giants. You guys saw the preseason.”
“Again, I just think we got punched in the nose early on [in 2023] and we dug ourselves a hole and we weren’t able to get out of it,” he concluded on the topic. “We’re trying to right now, but still believe in Daniel and the person [behind the QB].”
As for weighing the known commodity of Jones versus the unknown of the draft, Schoen said the following:
“There’s always risk. I mean, look at the past however many years of top-10 quarterbacks. I just went through it in the 2018 draft, and how many of those guys are starting, how many are with different teams, some are out of the league that were taken in the first round from that draft.”
“So, it’s not a position you can just evaluate on film,” Schoen went on. “You gotta get with these kids, you gotta meet with them, you gotta get around them, you gotta put them on the board. Can they learn? Can they process information?… Especially in this market. Like, bringing a quarterback into this market. It’s not for everybody, not everybody can handle it.”
“There’s just some unknowns right now,” he ended by saying. “And we’ll know as we get closer to free agency where [Jones] is in his rehab and how we need to approach the offseason.”
Buckle up Big Blue Nation, this could be a wild spring in New York.