Special to Sports News Highlights

It’s never easy taking over for a legend. But that’s exactly the situation Daniel Jones found himself in when the New York Giants drafted him sixth overall in 2019.

He was primed to be the successor to Eli Manning, who led Big Blue to two Super Bowl wins during his 16-year career.

It was an up-and-down beginning for Jones to say the least. After taking over for the beloved Manning, he threw for 336 yards in his first start and looked like a star. The rest of his early tenure, however, was rocky. While he showed flashes of greatness, the results on the field didn’t always reflect this. In his first three seasons, he threw or rushed for 45 touchdowns, but also had 29 interceptions. Even more troubling was the Giants’ record when he started: 12-25.

In his fourth season, Jones finally took the leap. While he only amassed 15 TDs, he kept the INTs to just five, which was a career low. He also threw for 3,205 yards, which was a career high. Most impressively, Jones was a major catalyst for getting the Giants to the playoffs and securing a Wild Card win over the Minnesota Vikings.

The Giants appeared to have found the right person to steer the ship, and they rewarded Jones with a four-year, $160 million extension. Almost immediately, there must have been some regret. The team began the 2023 season 1-4, and most of those losses were ugly. Jones regressed badly, and a neck injury forced him to miss three games. His return was short-lived, however, and resulted in a season-ending torn ACL.   

Even with all the money owed to Jones during this past offseason, the Giants seemed to be considering a replacement. Or at least, they contemplated bringing in someone to compete with him for the starting job. That someone may have been Russell Wilson, who met with the team briefly before signing with the Steelers.

With a quarterback-heavy draft, the speculation was New York would use its sixth pick to nab a QB, possibly North Carolina gunslinger Drake Maye. While Maye went third to the Patriots, there were still several options left on the board for the Giants, but they instead went with star wide receiver Malik Nabors.

This move could signal that the Giants still have faith in Jones. Or, due to his huge salary, perhaps they couldn’t justify moving on from him. Or maybe none of those remaining QBs were to their liking and they didn’t want to pick someone with question marks (like some believe they did when they drafted Jones).

When asked about the Giants’ potential interest in a new signal caller, Jones had this to say:

“I wasn’t fired up about it…but it’s part of it at this level. What I can do is focus on myself and getting healthy, playing the best football I can play and that I know I’m capable of playing. That’s my job and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Even though they didn’t bring in anyone who seems to be a realistic threat to supplant Jones, the Giants’ flirtation may have lit a fire under him.

“I’m always motived,” he said. “I consider myself a really driven guy and I’m always going to work as hard as I possibly can…I’m fired up, we got Malik, and looking forward to get to work.”

This is a make-or-break season for Jones, and he seems to know it. With only one more year of guaranteed money on his contract, any prolonged bad play or extensive injuries could result in him having to soon look for a new team – and the Giants once again needing a new leader.