During Thursday’s edition of the FS1 program “The Herd with Colin Cowherd,” Colin Cowherd made a bold claim about how New York Giants co-owner John Mara supposedly views quarterback Daniel Jones.
As shared by Reice Shipley of Awful Announcing, Cowherd suggested that the Giants are the second-biggest “mess” in the NFL behind only the Carolina Panthers, in part because Big Blue has “an owner that wants a quarterback” that general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll “privately don’t want.”
Cowherd seemingly was referencing how NFL Network personality Rich Eisen said earlier this week that individuals within the Giants are “absolutely done” with Jones and have “buyer’s remorse” regarding the four-year contract the 26-year-old signed last March. While it was previously believed Jones could open the 2024 season as New York’s starter coming off the torn ACL he suffered on Nov. 5, that was before it was learned Friday that the Giants had “an exploratory meeting” with Denver Broncos veteran and soon-to-be free agent Russell Wilson.
Cowherd isn’t the first person to suggest that neither Schoen nor Daboll were thrilled about being stuck with Jones through at least next season. This past November, Bill Barnwell of ESPN wrote that “ownership makes the final calls in New York, and it seems telling that Jones ended up landing more than $81M guaranteed over his first two years after one solid season in four tries.”
Jones won his first career playoff start in January 2023, but he has missed a total of nine games since the fall of 2021 due to neck injuries. It’s also worth noting that Jones will likely lose star running back and safety blanket Saquon Barkley via free agency as soon as next week.
“Daniel Jones in games that Saquon doesn’t play is 8-14,” Cowherd said. “…With Saquon Barkley, it is a BB gun offense. Without him, it’s a cracked water pistol. It’s bad, it is bad.”
Many expect the Giants to use the sixth overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft to select a quarterback who will eventually replace Jones atop the depth chart. Earlier this week, one-time Most Valuable Player and current NFL analyst Boomer Esiason linked the Giants with Michigan Wolverines signal-caller J.J. McCarthy because it’s thought McCarthy “fits ‘the mold'” wanted by Mara for the position.
