When the Giants moved from general manager Dave Gettleman to Joe Schoen this past offseason, it signified the dawn of a new era for the team in blue.
It also meant that players from the former regime would have to prove to the new management that they belong to stay in New York.
One of those players is quarterback Daniel Jones, whom the Giants did not exercise their fifth-year option on, leaving him to become a free agent after this season.
That doesn’t mean the Giants have decided to move on from Jones completely. However, it did mean that head coach Brian Daboll and Co. wanted to use this season to see if Jones is the right guy for the job moving forward.
At 5-1 through six weeks, it’s hard to deny that Jones can’t be that guy. In fact, the Giants have gotten off to such a great, albeit surprising, start that questions surrounding the future of Jones with the franchise — this time positive — have begun to percolate once again.
Jones understands the position that he’s in, but is trying his best to not let it creep into his mind.
“Not a whole lot,” he said on the New York, New York with John Jastremski podcast when asked how often he thinks about his contract. “I mean, I’d be lying if I said I never think about it, but I think for the most part, you want to be present and do what you gotta do each week to play.”
Through six weeks of the season, Jones has 1,021 passing yards, five passing touchdowns and has taken care of the football much better than in years past with just two interceptions and two fumbles lost. He’s also added 236 yards on the ground, including two rushing touchdowns, all while dealing with an ankle injury he suffered Week 4 against the Chicago Bears.
Not to mention, he leads the NFL with four game-winning drives this season.
“I think just taking care of what I got to control, to play as well as I can, to help this team win games, I think is the most effective way to kinda deal with that,” Jones said. “So that’s kinda how I try to approach it.”
If Jones can keep improving week-to-week and the Giants keep winning games, Jones’ approach to his contract could pay off for him.
For now, he knows there’s little else he can do except play well.
“That’s down the road,” Jones said. “That’s a situation that’s out of my control in the immediate future.”