Daniel Jones’ meteoric rise changes everything for the Giants.
Daniel Jones had just made playoff history, and one of the most thoughtful voices in the room, Giants teammate Darius Slayton, was explaining why it was no surprise. Slayton was at the receiver’s locker at U.S. Bank Stadium after Jones had beaten the Vikings last week by doing things with his arm and legs that no postseason quarterback had ever done, and he reduced the man and the performance to the most basic terms.
“One thing you have to understand about Daniel is that he tries his absolute hardest to win these games,” Slayton said. He goes to great lengths to win these games.
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That was one of the reasons Slayton was so upset about his late third-down drop, which threatened the upcoming victory at Minnesota. The receiver had not only let himself down, but also his quarterback.
In the end, it didn’t matter. Jones became the first player in playoff history to have at least 300 yards through the air, two passing touchdowns, and at least 70 yards rushing while leading the Giants to their first postseason victory since beating the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI 11 years ago. The Minnesota defense was bad enough to force the firing of its coordinator, Ed Donatell, after it almost guaranteed that the 6-foot-5 Jones would look like a cross between Cam Newton and John Elway on the field.
When compared to the great two-way threats who have played the position over the years, “Vanilla Vick” was a masterpiece worth celebrating in the days leading up to the Giants’ divisional-round matchup against the top-seeded Eagles on Saturday night at the Linc.
As it turned out, far too much of the talk this week was about how much money Jones made in that game, despite the fact that his employer’s (erroneous) springtime decision to decline his fifth-year, $22.4 million option has made him a pending free agent, and a desirable one at that. Would Jones be paid more than $30 million per film? More than $35 million per person? More than $40 million per person?
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Hey, hats off to him. Every athlete, especially in this blood sport, should take whatever the market offers. If the Giants are forced to overpay Jones slightly or completely, there are worse things in the world. Jones plays the most important position in the game, by far, for a storied franchise in the country’s largest media market, and yet he acts like a teenage walk-on at Duke, trying to secure a scholarship.
Jones, on the other hand, is a money player who is clearly not motivated (at least not solely) by money.He was mocked when the Giants drafted him sixth overall in 2019, and he was written off as an injury-prone turnover machine who couldn’t read defenses quickly enough in his first three years. Though Giants co-owner John Mara famously stated that the team had “done everything possible to screw this kid up since he’s been here,” Jones certainly deserved some of the blame.
He brushed off the declined option, put his head down, and tried to adjust to yet another staff last summer. Slowly and steadily, he won over the coaches and the fans by remaining healthy and efficient while also winning games. If the Giants were careful with Jones early on as they relied on Saquon Barkley and the run game, they’ve asked him to carry a much heavier load of late. The quarterback responded by becoming a celebrity.
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His transformation from bust to fan favorite wasn’t quite as dramatic as Edwin Diaz’s at Citi Field, but it came close. The Mets closer wasn’t looking for a nine-figure contract as much as he was looking for redemption and a shot at a championship, and Jones felt the same way. Nothing was given to him. Jones just put in long hours and lived the old Ben Hogan line: “The secret is in the dirt.”
“He’s willing to do whatever it takes,” Barkley said after the Giants qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2016. “And I can sit here and talk about it, but you can go watch it on Sundays.” You don’t notice, but I get here pretty early, and every time I get here and get up early, there’s a car that arrives before me, and it’s Daniel Jones’. He’s the first one in and the last one out. He truly embodies that mindset.
“He’s tough, a helluva player, a helluva guy, and a helluva teammate.” He is our captain and our leader. “You believe you can win any game when you have that guy at quarterback.”
Though the Giants were expected to lose to the Eagles, who had completely dominated them, they genuinely believed they could pull off the upset. Jones, more than anyone else, gave them that faith.
