NFL insider Connor Hughes of SNY believes the New York Giants won’t restructure the four-year contract reportedly worth up to $160M that quarterback Daniel Jones signed last March, largely because general manager Joe Schoen may want to move on from that deal next offseason.
“The Giants can look to other places to create cap space if they need it,” Hughes explained in a mailbag shared on Friday. “Restructuring Jones is not an option. They need to maintain that escape hatch after this year, where releasing Jones would free $19.3M with a $22.2M dead charge.”
It was known well before Jones suffered a torn ACL on Nov. 5 that the Giants could escape his contract following the 2024 season. While his poor play, when healthy, this past fall sparked concerns, it’s perhaps more worrisome that he’s now missed a total of nine games since 2021 because of neck injuries.
As for the Giants possibly drafting Jones’ immediate replacement this spring, Hughes wrote that the Chicago Bears (overall pick No. 1), Washington Commanders (No. 2) and New England Patriots (No. 3) “all need quarterbacks” and “have very little interest in moving back” to the sixth overall selection currently owned by the Giants. That could lead to Schoen taking a flier on a project such as Washington Huskies starter Michael Penix Jr., J.J. McCarthy of the Michigan Wolverines or Bo Nix of the Oregon Ducks in the draft’s second round.
“Penix has serious injury concerns while some scouts question Nix’s ability to process at the NFL level,” Hughes added.
Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk mentioned earlier this week that Penix tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee twice during his college career. Such an injury history likely sounds alarm bells within the Giants considering MetLife Stadium, Big Blue’s home, is routinely linked with serious knee injuries each season.
For now, Jones is on track to be New York’s Week 1 starter this coming September unless he’s still recovering from his injury at that time or he loses the job to a presumed backup in August.
