The NFL abbreviation is often joked about to mean ‘Not For Long’, as teams and players are quickly put through the gauntlet of the professional league where very little patience is granted to those met with high expectations.
So for head coach Brian Daboll, who is entering his third season with the New York Giants after a playoff appearance in 2022 and a brutal battle with team injuries in 2023, the clock is now ticking to get this team turned around in 2024—or he could be relieved of his duties.
Under center for the Giants will likely be Daniel Jones, entering his sixth season in the league. The first round pick in 2018 had struggled in his time prior to Daboll arriving in town.
But the two meshed well together in 2022, earning Jones a four-year, $160 million deal and confidence from the front office that he would be the team’s franchise quarterback. He followed that up with six games of underwhelming play while missing time due to a neck injury early in the year, and a torn ACL in November.
After the decision to run it back with Jones as the intended starter and an improved weapons room, Daboll has put all his chips in the middle so that the soon-to-be 27-year-old can be a franchise quarterback in this league. And as a result, their futures with the organization are likely intertwined.
Even after the Giants made the 2022 NFL Playoffs, many had reservations about paying Daniel Jones top dollar because they felt that the season’s success reflected more on the coaching staff than the quarterback himself.
Despite the plethora of needs surrounding the roster, the team was also fairly tight on cap space, so the decision to extend Jones would lead to other key pieces becoming available on the open market, unlikely to be retained.
This season we saw prime examples of that, as key contributors such as Xavier McKinney, who signed with the Green Bay Packers, and Saquon Barkley, who signed with the Philadelphia Eagles for a three-year deal worth over $37 million. Now, with just over $1.1 million left in cap space (30th best in the NFL) the team is trying to fill in the gaps on a budget.
The team signed Devin Singletary to fill in at running back and will be looking for rookies drafted on Day 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft to step in and produce in the secondary. While stranger things have happened, the roster construction for a team hoping to make a playoff run looks shaky at best.
To see Daniel Jones through the first five weeks of the season, where he arguably had just one game where he looked like a quality NFL starter, is a major red flag for a franchise that is now hoping for him to rediscover his rhythm after coming off of a significant lower-body injury.
The investment has been a failure through one season, but if the trend continues, the team does have an out in the contract this offseason that could save the team over $19 million in cap space if they choose to release the quarterback right away, or over $30 million if they designated it as a post-June 1 decision.
Still, the cost of extending Jones on a massive deal meant the team missed out on some talent. If things don’t turn around in 2024, it will be hard to reflect on the sacrifices that came as a result of the deal.
There were whispers that New York would be interested in trading up during the 2024 NFL Draft if the right quarterback was available, but instead they stayed put and drafted Malik Nabers, who was a star for the LSU Tigers last season and should be able to provide the offense with a number one receiving threat that hasn’t existed since Daboll has arrived.
The team did add Drew Lock on the open market this offseason, but the decision to punt on quarterback altogether through the draft is a sign of confidence towards Jones and what he can be for the organization.
There have been instances where coaches have entered the season with solid security but hitched their wagon to the wrong player under center and found themselves out of a job as a result. Most recently, former Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith did so by rolling with Desmond Ridder.
Currently, the seat is probably lukewarm for Brian Daboll, but with concerns over his feuding with coordinators, a season that depends on Jones could quickly go south if the offense continues to struggle through the beginning of the season. This situation could snowball to a point where owner John Mara opts to go with a fresh start.
So, while the team may not need to make the playoffs in 2024, and Daniel Jones doesn’t have to light the world on fire, there does need to be an obvious resurgence within the offense for both QB and HC to continue their tenures in New York. While there are possible timelines where Jones is replaced and Daboll sticks around, they’re likely more tied to injuries or impressive play from Lock in relief.
The quarterback position is miles ahead of any other spot on the roster in terms of how much one can influence a team’s success. So for the New York Giants and Brian Daboll, a return to form for Daniel Jones is essential, or the pair could both be out of a job before the regular season finale.
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