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It shouldn’t surprise anyone to hear that 2024 is a pivotal year for Giants quarterback Daniel Jones.
First up on a checklist for Jones: Return fully healthy for football. After suffering a season-ending torn ACL in 2023, Jones has been steadily working toward getting back in time for camp, and it appears he’ll do just that this week, telling reporters Sunday he “should be ready to go.”
“I feel good. Ready to go. Ready to go for training camp,” Jones said, via ESPN. “Looking forward to next Wednesday.”
Generally speaking, this is the make-or-break year for Jones. He’s coming off a season in which he played a career-low six games and was largely ineffective in those contests. He participated in the half-dozen games just months after signing a new four-year, $160 million deal and looked nothing like the signal-caller the Giants thought they were retaining.
Jones is entering his sixth NFL season and is no longer on an affordable rookie deal, making his injury history and on-field struggles less tolerable, if at all. In the results-driven business of the NFL, patience is often scarce, and it certainly won’t be bountiful regarding Jones beyond 2024.
Jones’ contract also allows the Giants to move on from him in 2025 with relatively minor financial penalty. They’ll carry just $11.1 million in dead cap if they choose to cut or trade him in a post-June 1 move next summer, clearing an avenue for general manager Joe Schoen to look elsewhere if he deems it necessary.
It was paramount, then, for Jones to begin camp, which kicks off Tuesday for Giants veterans, ready to go. After New York fell well short of its goals in 2023 under coach Brian Daboll, the pressure is on to produce, and it doesn’t just land on Jones’ shoulders.
As a quarterback, though, he’ll carry the majority of it. Fortunately, it sounds as if he’s physically ready to do so.
