Daniel Jones' Giants future murky with team perhaps years away from contention

EAST RUTHERFORD — Progress. That’s what this is. Daniel Jones will throw in practice on Wednesday for the first time since injuring his neck against the Miami Dolphins two weeks ago. He’s still not cleared for contact, Giants head coach Brian Daboll said, and there’s no indication when that will happen.

There is one thing the usually tight-lipped Daboll is convinced of, though, as it pertains to his quarterback’s 2023 season: “It’s not over.”

Good. Any repeat injury involving the neck strikes fear of career longevity.

But his Giants future beyond that is a bit more murky.

Jones is not a bust. The notion is silly and word tossed too freely. There are plenty of quarterbacks drafted before, around the same, or after Jones who simply cannot play and hold their team back. That is not the case for the Giants’ 26-year-old quarterback. He displayed a season ago the ability to be a good player in the NFL.

But the Giants are paying him to be great. And Jones is not great.

There are tiers of quarterbacks in the NFL. Some elevate the play of those around them. The vast majority must be lifted by their teammates. You put Jones behind a good offensive line with solid playmakers and you have a quarterback who you might not win because of, but can win with. That’s enough for many, but Big Blue’s big issue is how far away they are from true contention.

The Giants were believed to be in need of a full-on, colossal rebuild when GM Joe Schoen and Daboll arrived last year. That’s among the reasons the team decided not to pick up Jones’ fifth-year option. The roster was littered with holes and vacant depth. Good breaks, lucky bounces and a weak schedule gave the perception they were further along than they actually were. The Giants went 9-7-1 and beat the Vikings in the first round of the playoffs.

Most teams that win a playoff game are expected to compete for a Super Bowl the ensuing season. There’s no doubt some within the Giants, who boasted of returning “back” to their former glory, applied pressure to take the next step.

So Schoen paid Jones. He had to. They weren’t in a position to draft his replacement, couldn’t trade for anyone, and there were no improvements in free agency. He then felt he improved those around his quarterback by acquiring the likes of Darren Waller, Parris Campbell and Jalin Hyatt. They thought that was enough.

They were wrong.

The first quarter of this season exposed the Giants for what they are — a team still years (plural) from ascending to the upper echelon of those within their conference, let alone league. The offense lacks playmakers. Their line is bad when healthy and an utter disaster in its current state. Their defense fights hard, but wilts when competing against a team’s best. There aren’t any game-wreckers on that side of the ball. There are poor contracts handed out by the last regime (Leonard Williams, Adoree Jackson').

The Giants are as bad as their 1-5 record indicates they are. They haven’t scored an offensive touchdown in 13 quarters for a reason. A look ahead foreshadows more misfortune coming the Giants’ way.

Washington and the Jets are next — both teams headed in the complete opposite direction from the Giants. Then it’s the Raiders, Cowboys, Washington (again) and the Patriots. New England might be the only team the Giants are favored against, and even that is pushing it. They close the season against the Packers, Saints, Eagles, Rams and Eagles again. There’s a chance the Eagles rest their starters in the finale — New York’s only shot of a victory.

Things in the NFL can change quickly, but by the time Jones and left tackle Andrew Thomas return, all might be lost. The Giants very much look like a team whose ceiling is four or five wins, but very well may finish with just three. That could be good enough for the first or second pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Awaiting them would be USC’s Caleb Williams and UNC’s Drake Maye.

Headlined by those two, this is believed to be one of the better quarterback classes in recent memory. Most scouts will tell you Williams and Maye have the potential to be two of the best in the entire NFL with proper development. Jones’ ceiling is good enough. These two are franchise-altering.

If the Giants are as far away as previously believed, and not recently hoped, then restarting with Williams or Maye is a no-brain decision. They can get out from Jones’ contract and absorb a rookie deal. The money they’re saving can be used to round out a roster clearly still so far away. It makes too much sense. The only uncertainty is what team would make a move for Jones, and if the Giants would need to pay a portion of his contract.

Daboll is among the least informative coaches in the league when positioned behind the podium. That’s what made this declaration on Jones’ season so surprising. The question posed, though, sounded more open-ended than intended at first. It’s why Daboll hesitated, clarifying it was regarding Jones.

Daboll might have been more coy if taken another direction — is the Giants’ season over? He surely knows a loss to Washington on Sunday takes the obituary off the editing table and to print. Once that happens, the Giants’ future becomes all that really matters.

And it’s hard to believe that future would include Jones.