NFL reporter expands on Giants' confidence in Daniel Jones

NFL Network personality Rich Eisen has repeatedly stood by his report from this past March about the New York Giants allegedly being "absolutely done" with quarterback Daniel Jones coming off the 2023 campaign and about the Giants having "buyer's remorse" regarding the four-year contract that Jones signed last offseason.

For a story posted on Sunday, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler suggested that Giants general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll haven't given up on Jones quite yet.

"He's their best option right now, and the team still believes in him," Fowler wrote about Jones and the Giants. "Regardless of injury, $11 million of Jones' 2025 salary guarantees in March. Jones seems more concerned with three things over proving himself: maintaining his health, 'developing relationships' with 'a lot of new guys' on offense and cementing an identity on offense."

After the "Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants" program confirmed that Schoen explored trading up in the 2024 draft order to land Jones' eventual replacement, the executive raised eyebrows when he neither confirmed nor denied the club could sit a healthy Jones this fall to ensure the signal-caller stays healthy enough to be released next offseason. Per Fowler, "most of Jones' $30 million salary in 2025 ($23 million) is already guaranteed for injury."

Jones suffered two neck injuries across three seasons before he went down with a torn ACL last November. Fowler mentioned on Sunday that "the feeling among the Giants is that Jones is moving well and trending upward while knocking off the rust" accumulated during his recovery.

"I'm really not (thinking about) the rehab when I'm out there," Jones told Fowler last week. "I've done a lot in my rehab. I'm cutting and moving. So, I feel good. ... I always had a lot of confidence I'd be here and back."

Despite what pockets of Giants fans posting on social media may want to believe, there's currently zero indication that backup Drew Lock will be given any real chance to replace Jones atop the depth chart before New York's regular-season opener versus the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 8 as long as the 2019 first-round draft pick stays healthy and doesn't look like a complete disaster during summer practices.

Whether or not Jones can do enough to keep Lock a spectator through the bulk of the upcoming season shall be seen.