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Tyrod Taylor

Latest On Giants’ Tommy DeVito Plans

December 21st, 2023 at 11:23am CST by Sam Robinson

The Saints pumped the brakes on Tommy DeVito‘s recent run, sacking him seven times in a one-sided Week 15 loss. Absorbing a concerning number of sacks is nothing new for DeVito, but the Giants had entered their Superdome date on a three-game win streak.

Brian Daboll confirmed DeVito remains the team’s starter over Tyrod Taylor. The Giants activated Taylor from IR before their Week 14 win over the Packers but will continue to evaluate DeVito for 2024. With Taylor in the final weeks of his two-year Giants contract, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo notes (video link) the team is using this window to see if DeVito can be its backup next season.

DeVito’s recent stretch has complicated matters for the Giants. Following Daniel Jones‘ ACL tear, Taylor suffered four broken ribs. This left a UDFA rookie — one Daboll kept on a tight leash in an ugly loss to the Jets that featured almost nothing but handoffs on the Giants’ part — piloting a team that hovered near the top of the 2024 draft board. The ensuing three DeVito-quarterbacked wins leave the Giants at 5-9. The NFL has five 5-9 teams, creating a pivotal stretch — for draft positioning, at least — over the final three weeks. But the team is no longer a realistic candidate to land a top-two pick. This gives Jones a smoother runway toward a return as the Giants’ unquestioned starter.

DeVito is not a serious threat to supplant Jones, Garafolo adds, and the recently re-signed starter is aiming to return from his ACL tear by training camp. That would solve some problems for the Giants, who did not exactly see encouraging work from their $40MM-per-year passer before his injury. But GM Joe Schoen said the team would look to add a quarterback in the offseason. DeVito’s improvements may have adjusted the team’s thinking here, but with Taylor heading toward free agency, the team would at least need another arm for 2024. DeVito’s final games may determine if the Giants target a true backup option or a third-stringer-type presence.

Taylor has now been benched by four teams since 2018. The Browns sat their trade pickup for No. 1 pick Baker Mayfield, while the pregame injection snafu in Los Angeles introduced the NFL world to Justin Herbert in 2020. The Texans began their Deshaun Watson healthy-scratch year with Taylor under center, but Davis Mills eventually replaced him. Taylor had operated as Jones’ backup, but the rib injury brought in DeVito. Taylor expressed disappointment about Daboll’s decision, and the journeyman QB is expected to depart soon.

DeVito, who admittedly has just one 200-yard passing performance in five starts, showing enough to be considered a long-term QB2 would help the Giants a bit; he is tied to a league-minimum deal. DeVito’s extended look as a starter has also cost Taylor a bit of dough. Taylor carried $1MM in 2023 playing-time and performance incentives. Reaching the 40% and 50% snap thresholds would have provided him $250K apiece, per The Athletic’s Dan Duggan. A Taylor 92.5 passer rating and 65% completion rate would also lead to $250K apiece. The 34-year-old veteran, however, has only attempted 91 passes this season.

This surprising DeVito storyline came to fruition in part because he turned down opportunities to join the Commanders (as a UDFA) and the Patriots (as a practice squad arm post-training camp). The New Jersey native transferred from Syracuse to Illinois in 2022 and had hoped the NCAA would grant him a waiver to play in 2023, which would have made him a rare seventh-year senior. Once that did not go through, Illinois HC Bret Bielema — a Giants assistant under Joe Judge in 2020 — helped convince DeVito to turn down multiple other opportunities after the Giants waived him following training camp, the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy notes.

DeVito’s decision to stick around on the Giants’ practice squad could result in him becoming a long-term part of the team’s future, but he will probably need to impress over the team’s final three games to both hold off Taylor and show team brass he can be a true backup to Jones.

Giants Activate Tyrod Taylor; Tommy DeVito To Start In Week 14

December 11th, 2023 at 3:21pm CST by Adam La Rose

DECEMBER 11: Taylor will be in uniform Monday night. The Giants used one of their remaining injury activations to bring Taylor back onto the 53-man roster. Despite DeVito looking overmatched early in his starter run, the Giants have stuck with the rookie UDFA, who has shown some improvement. Taylor expressed disappointment about not returning to a starting role, but he will back up DeVito tonight against the Packers. The 34-year-old QB suffered four broken ribs earlier this season.

DECEMBER 5: While Taylor will likely be activated in time for the Giants’ upcoming Monday night game, head coach Brian Daboll said (via Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News) it will be DeVito starting for the fifth straight contest. The latter will receive at least one more look as a No. 1 to close out the season.

DECEMBER 4: The Giants will soon have a quarterback decision to make. Tyrod Taylor will be designated for return from injured reserve this week, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The move has indeed taken place today, per a team announcement.

The move will allow Taylor to return to the practice field as the Giants return from their bye week. The 34-year-old will have 21 days to be activated or revert to season-ending IR. With Daniel Jones out for the season, the Giants have been forced to rely on undrafted rookie Tommy DeVito over the past four games in the wake of Taylor’s rib injury. The latter is now set to return to the lineup in the near future, though.

It came out last month that Taylor expected to return to action after New York’s bye week, so today’s update comes as little surprise. The journeyman has made three starts in 2023, his second season with the Giants. Taylor – like each of the team’s other quarterbacks – was unable to guide New York to significant offensive production during his time at the helm, but he will provide experience and consistency in contrast to DeVito, who has gone 2-2 as a starter.

On the other hand, the latter could be deemed to have more upside than Taylor, a factor which could weigh into the Giants’ decision on their pecking order at the QB spot. The final weeks of a lost campaign could be used to evaluate DeVito, whose play over the past two weeks has been much better than his initial NFL action. The 25-year-old drew interest from at least two other teams after the draft, but his decision to sign with the Giants has proven to be a shrewd one so far.

Taylor is a pending free agent, so the final weeks of the season would give him an opportunity to boost his market on a new Giants pact or one which would send him elsewhere. DeVito could likewise play his way into the QB2 role for 2024 by continuing to show promise if he gets the nod to finish the campaign. New York has the ability to move on from Jones’ $160MM extension signed in March at the end of next year, so plenty of pressure will be on him to show improvement once he returns to action. How the team handles the backup spot will be a storyline to watch as well, though, with the upcoming Taylor-DeVito decision representing an important choice for the team in the immediate future.

NFL Injury Roundup: Jefferson, Herbert, Hamilton

December 10th, 2023 at 6:04pm CST by Ely Allen

Justin Jefferson‘s return from injured reserve may not last long. In Jefferson’s first game back from the IR-stint caused by a nagging hamstring injury, the Vikings wide receiver was knocked out of the game early with a separate injury.

While cutting across the middle of the field on a deep slant, Jefferson leapt up, arms extended, in an attempt to grab a high pass from quarterback Joshua Dobbs. While Jefferson was fully exposed in the process of the catch, Raiders safety Marcus Epps delivered a big shot to Jefferson’s rib cage from the side.

It didn’t take long for the team to rule Jefferson out for the remainder of the game with a chest injury. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Minnesota decided to transport Jefferson to a local hospital in Las Vegas. While perhaps not indicative of the worst-case scenario, the Vikings are likely just acting out of an abundance of caution.

At 6-6, the Vikings are one of a handful of NFC teams on the boundary of playoff contention, even without Jefferson for the last eight weeks. If Jefferson’s chest injury is not too painful to overcome, he would be a great asset in a playoff push to close the season.

Here are a few other injury updates from around the league:

  • The Chargers are facing an uphill battle in their attempts to remain in playoff contention. Things won’t get any easier as starting quarterback Justin Herbert was ruled out of today’s game with a finger injury, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. With Herbert out, backup quarterback Easton Stick has entered the game for his first game action since the 2020 season. Since starting in place of an injured Tyrod Taylor in Week 2 of his rookie season, Herbert has not missed a single start in his career. If Herbert’s finger keeps him out for more than a few days, with Los Angeles facing a short week, Stick could see his first ever NFL start in Vegas this Thursday.
  • Ravens do-it-all safety Kyle Hamilton was forced to leave today’s overtime win over the Rams with a knee injury. He had sat out a couple of plays after initially tweaking his knee before returning to the field of play earlier in the game. A few drives later, he would not return and was ruled out for the rest of the game. According to Schefter, the plan is for Hamilton to undergo an MRI scan tomorrow in order to determine the extent of the injury. Baltimore is set up well with Marcus Williams and Geno Stone at safety, but Hamilton lines up in so many places on the defense that he would be virtually impossible to replace with a single player if he’s forced to miss any time.

NFC East Notes: Eagles, Leonard, Cowboys, Giants, Commanders, Del Rio

December 6th, 2023 at 5:31pm CST by Sam Robinson

Shaquille Leonard‘s free agency decision brought additional intrigue due to its NFC East-only nature, and Jerry Jones said during an interview with 105.3 The Fan (h/t The Athletic’s Jon Machota) the chase did not come down to money. The Colts still owe Leonard $6.1MM guaranteed for the rest of this year. The sixth-year linebacker will collect $416K in prorated base salary from the Eagles, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. That checks in above the veteran minimum, and Yates adds the Eagles included a $100K incentive and $17K per game in roster bonuses.

Leonard played 2 1/2 seasons on a five-year, $98.5MM accord — one that topped the ILB market until the Ravens’ Roquan Smith deal earlier this year — but saw two 2022 back surgeries impact his career. Visiting both the Cowboys and Eagles (ahead of the NFC East powers’ rematch Sunday), Leonard said (via AllPhly.com’s Zach Berman) his bond with Nick Sirianni played a key role in the Eagles choice. Sirianni was the Colts’ OC from 2018-20, Leonard’s first three NFL seasons (all of which resulted in All-Pro honors). He will attempt to recapture that form ahead of another free agency run in 2024.

Here is the latest from the NFC East:

Tyrod Taylor Likely To Return This Season

November 17th, 2023 at 1:52pm CST by Sam Robinson

While Daniel Jones‘ injury placed the Giants in the unexpected position to target a high-end replacement in the 2024 draft, the team only moved into realistic range for such an aspiration due to Tyrod Taylor‘s absence. Taylor’s rib injury left Tommy DeVito as the last man standing for the Giants, who have sunk to 2-8 during the rookie UDFA’s time at the controls.

DeVito will make another start in Week 11, but the Giants are not closing the book on Taylor. The veteran backup said he does not expect this rib ailment to end his season, and ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan notes the second-year Giants QB2 appears likely to return following the team’s Week 13 bye.

The Giants placed Taylor on IR before their Week 9 game, meaning Week 14 will be the earliest he can return. The injury led to the 13th-year veteran being hospitalized, and it brought back memories of the injection snafu in Los Angeles, which ushered in Justin Herbert in September 2020. Taylor resurfaced with the Texans in 2021, opening the season as the rebuilding team’s starter while Deshaun Watson began a full season as a healthy scratch. Taylor, 34, has settled onto the backup tier. And his Giants contract expires at season’s end. But he could suddenly be an X-factor in the race for the 2024 top picks.

NFL teams do not make a habit of framing stretch runs around tanking for draft positioning, a process that impacts NBA lottery teams’ plans annually. But clubs do rest veterans at points. The Jaguars sat rookie-year dynamo James Robinson late in the 2020 season, and the Bears rested Justin Fields in Week 18 of last season. Both teams ended up securing the No. 1 overall pick the following year.

The most memorable tanking act in recent NFL history affected the Giants, as the Eagles pulled Jalen Hurts during a competitive Week 17 game against Washington. Doug Pederson inserting Nate Sudfeld effectively ended Philly’s effort to win, thus handing Washington the NFC East title. With a 6-10 Giants team in the strange position of being on the cusp of the playoffs with a Washington loss, Raanan adds team brass was understandably not happy with how the Eagles proceeded that night. Philly ended up with the No. 6 overall pick, which it traded to Miami for a 2022 first-rounder.

The difference in the Giants’ offensive capabilities with Taylor (56 career starts) at the helm vs. DeVito certainly stands to be impactful enough it will be a storyline to monitor over the season’s final five weeks. If the season ended today, the Giants would hold the No. 2 overall pick. GM Joe Schoen was recently spotted at a USC-Washington game earlier this month.

Although the guarantees in the Giants’ Jones four-year, $160MM Jones extension will leave the team no choice but to keep him in 2024, the club is not expected to pass on drafting Caleb Williams or Drake Maye if the opportunity presents itself in April. That will leave the Giants with a big-picture decision: keep playing DeVito (or one of their other bottom-end QBs) or activate Taylor off IR despite the latter not being in the team’s long-term plans.

As Jones will be back in 2024, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan adds Taylor is likely to be too pricey for the Giants next year (subscription required). Taylor signed a two-year, $11MM deal in 2022, helping the Giants rectify the mistake they made in replacing 2020 QB2 Colt McCoy with Mike Glennon. It would seem the Giants will have a call to make following their bye week, but as of now, Taylor is on track to be back on the 53-man roster in December.

Giants Add Jacob Eason To Practice Squad

November 7th, 2023 at 10:05pm CST by Ely Allen

The Giants’ season is currently circling the drain as a 2-7 start has now been compounded with the season-ending ACL injury of starting quarterback Daniel Jones. With Jones out and primary backup passer Tyrod Taylor still on injured reserve with a rib cage injury for the next three games, at least, New York is adding an arm to their stable in the form of young journeyman Jacob Eason on a practice squad deal, per Dan Salomone, managing editor of Giants.com.

Eason has been on the Giants’ radar for a while now, working out with them in minicamp back in June, according to The Athletic’s Dan Duggan, and returning for a tryout today, as well, per ESPN’s Jordan Raanan. Despite having been rostered by four other teams since being drafted in the fourth-round by Indianapolis four years ago, Eason has only appeared in games for the Colts and Panthers. In one game each for either team in the past two seasons, the 25-year-old has seen extremely limited time completing just 5 of 10 pass attempts for 84 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions in just 12 offensive snaps.

Eason likely isn’t coming in to save the day as a starter, or at least not right away. According to Pat Leonard of New York Daily News, head coach Brian Daboll told the media that, with Taylor not certain to return at any point this season, the current plan at quarterback is undrafted rookie Tommy DeVito as the starter, along with getting practice squad veteran backup passer Matt Barkley “up to speed.” Daboll also plans to communicate more with general manager Joe Schoen about possibilities at the position.

The sum of DeVito’s NFL experience has come in the past two weeks as he served replacement duty for both Taylor and Jones in consecutive games. After only completing two of seven pass attempts for -1 yards in his debut, DeVito showed more poise this weekend, going 15 of 20 for 175 yards, while throwing one touchdown and two interceptions. Barkley hasn’t appeared in an NFL game since 2020 and hasn’t made a start since 2018. Over his career, Barkley holds a completion percentage of 58.4 and a touchdown-interception ratio of 11-22.

Neither option likely provides Giants fans with much hope for turning around their season. Nor does Eason, probably, for that matter. Regardless, in comes Eason to provide some depth and experience at the most important offensive position.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/4/23

November 4th, 2023 at 3:49pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves and gameday callups for Week 9:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

  • Elevated: QB Dresser Winn

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

With Kyler Murray not being activated from injured reserve this week, the Cardinals are heading into Week 9 with Clayton Tune as the only quarterback on their active roster. Driskel will be called up for the week as a standard gameday elevation to back up Tune.

With Matthew Stafford listed as questionable for tomorrow’s game, the Rams are adding some depth at the quarterback position. Dresser Winn had a breakout 2022 campaign at UT Martin, tossing 18 touchdowns while adding another three scores on the ground. He joined the Rams as an UDFA but was cut at the end of the preseason. He had a brief stint in the Canadian Football League before rejoining the Rams practice squad earlier this week. If Stafford can’t go, Brett Rypien will get the call under center for the Rams.

Peters will be elevated for the second straight week in Seattle. The 41-year-old, playing in his 19th NFL season, split snaps with right tackle Stone Forsythe last week against Cleveland.

NFL Injury Rumors: Giants, Banks, Stafford

November 3rd, 2023 at 9:22pm CST by Ely Allen

The Giants received some good news with the announcement that starting quarterback Daniel Jones has received clearance to play and is line to start Week 9 in Las Vegas. In the same breath, though, New York was forced into the realization that it will be without Jones’ safety net and security blanket as backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor and tight end Darren Waller will both be absent this weekend and, potentially, longer, according to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan.

Taylor sustained a rib cage injury that knocked him out of last week’s overtime loss to the Jets. Waller is also dealing with some injury trouble concerning his groin and hamstring. Despite the injuries last week, Taylor and Waller led the Giants in passing and receiving, respectively, in the loss, despite only totaling eight yards passing and four yards receiving.

Raanan relayed the report from head coach Brian Daboll, who mentioned that he doesn’t expect either player back any time soon. In fact, the head coach didn’t rule a stint on injured reserve for Taylor or Waller.

Here are a few other injury rumors from around the NFL, starting with a Texans rookie starter:

  • Houston placed rookie center Jarrett Patterson, who had been forced into the starting lineup due to other injuries along the offensive line, on IR on Tuesday. The specifics of Patterson’s injury weren’t reported at the time, but Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 informed us this week that Patterson suffered a broken fibula. After receiving multiple medical opinions, Patterson will avoid surgery but is still expected to miss six to eight weeks.
  • On the second to last drive of last week’s loss to Cincinnati, 49ers starting left guard Aaron Banks suffered a foot injury that he wouldn’t report until finishing the game. Per a report by David Bonilla of 49ers Webzone, head coach Kyle Shanahan communicated that he expects Banks to miss a few weeks with a turf toe injury. “Yeah, with turf toe, you never know,” Shanahan said. “So, they told me it should be a few weeks, is what I got here. I know that’s a little vague, but I would say that means at least three weeks.” Luckily for San Francisco, one of those weeks should include the team’s Week 9 bye.
  • While dealing with a UCL sprain suffered in this past weekend’s loss to Dallas, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford has been classified as day-to-day. After testing out the thumb injury on Tuesday, Stafford sat out the remainder of this week’s practices, according to Kevin Patra of NFL Network. Still, head coach Sean McVay reported Stafford will be labeled as questionable heading into the Week 9 and will be a game-time decision to play. If Stafford is unavailable on Sunday, backup quarterback Brett Rypien will make the start. Rypien has gone 2-1 in three starts over his first four years in the league but has thrown twice as many interceptions (8) as touchdowns (4). Either way, Los Angeles will leave Sunday headed towards a bye week, allowing Stafford an extra week of rest to potentially return for Week 11.

QB Notes: Taylor, Cardinals, Bucs, Ridder

October 29th, 2023 at 8:12pm CST by Sam Robinson

Tyrod Taylor left Sunday’s game with a rib injury and needed to be hospitalized. The Giants announced they are keeping their backup-turned-starter in the hospital overnight for observation on his ribcage ailment. Taylor has a history of rib trouble, of course, as just more than three years have passed since the rib injection that ended his brief run as the Chargers’ starter. The pregame shot before Week 2 of the 2020 season resulted in a punctured lung. During Taylor’s one-season stint as the Texans’ starter, he missed a third of the season due to a hamstring malady. The journeyman came back as a backup, with Houston giving Davis Mills a shot to close that season.

Taylor almost certainly will be welcomed back as the Giants’ starter when he is ready, as the team pivoted to nearly run-only blueprint with practice squad elevation Tommy DeVito under center. Daniel Jones is not expected to be back until Week 10, as he continues to battle a neck injury. The latest coming out of that situation points to the well-paid starter dealing with a disk issue and weakness in his nonthrowing shoulder.

Here is the latest from the QB ranks:

  • The Cardinals have joined the Giants in playing a backup this season, and while they have pronounced Kyler Murray fully healthy after his December 2022 ACL tear, the team will once again hold out the Pro Bowler. Jonathan Gannon announced postgame Joshua Dobbs will start in Week 9. Murray remains on Arizona’s reserve/PUP list, having been designated for return on Oct. 18. The Cardinals do not have to activate him until Nov. 8, giving them one more game to keep Murray off the roster. Early reports indicated an early-season return would be in play for Murray, and Michael Bidwill doubled down on that in April. But the organization has proceeded cautiously with the former No. 1 pick, who has also needed to learn a new offense. It will be interesting to see if the sinking Cardinals redeploy Murray as their starter immediately upon activating him.
  • Baker Mayfield did not escape Thursday’s loss in Buffalo unscathed, with ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler noting the free agent pickup is dealing with a knee contusion. Mayfield is planning to play through this injury, but it has caused him discomfort. The Buccaneers QB’s MRI did not reveal any structural damage, however.
  • While Kenny Pickett was initially expected to return to Sunday’s Steelers-Jaguars matchup following his rib injury, via ESPN.com’s Brooke Pryor, the Steelers ruled out their starter and kept Mitch Trubisky in the game. Pickett left the game before the half but was warming up to come back; instead, the team shut him down. Benched early during his first Steelers season, Trubisky became needed on multiple occasions due to Pickett’s two-concussion rookie year. It is not yet known how much time (if any) the 2022 first-rounder will miss as a result of his latest injury.
  • Desmond Ridder‘s midgame exit did not stem from performance issues, Arthur Smith said (via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Ridder was evaluated for a concussion, but while he was cleared of a head injury, Smith said he “didn’t think Des was right” following the exit. The Falcons kept Taylor Heinicke in the game as a result. Heinicke logged one of the most active QB2 seasons in NFL history two years ago, replacing Ryan Fitzpatrick in Week 1 and keeping the Washington reins the rest of the way. The Falcons gave the multiyear Washington starter a two-year, $14MM deal this offseason. Ridder has delivered an uneven season thus far, but the Falcons passed on chances to acquire a starter-caliber QB in order to keep him in place. With the team proclaiming Ridder the starter in March, it does not appear he is in danger of being pulled.

Daniel Jones Avoids Serious Neck Injury; Giants QB To Miss Week 6

October 13th, 2023 at 10:36am CST by Sam Robinson

OCTOBER 13: Daboll confirmed the previous suspicions; Jones will not play in Week 6. The fifth-year quarterback has not practiced this week, having not received medical clearance. While this is not believed to be a serious injury, Jones’ 2021 absences and 2022 neck surgery make this a must-monitor situation. Taylor, the Bills’ starter for three seasons, will face his former team Sunday night.

OCTOBER 12: A neck injury ended Daniel Jones‘ 2021 season, leading to one of the worst stretches in Giants history. That Jones-less period ended with Joe Judge and Dave Gettleman losing their jobs. While Jones bounced back last season and now has a big-ticket contract, he is again battling a neck injury.

Jones left the Giants’ Week 5 loss to the Dolphins, and while he has expressed optimism, he added (via ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan) he is not yet cleared to practice. The Giants are likely to start Tyrod Taylor against the Bills on Sunday night, per the New York Daily News’ Pat Leonard.

Although Jones is moving toward missing Week 6, he does not believe this is shaping up as a long-term concern. X-rays and a follow-up examination produced a positive outlook, the New York Post’s Paul Schwartz tweets. The former top-10 pick missed the Giants’ final six games in 2021 and underwent surgery. Brian Daboll said Jones has experienced lingering soreness, and considering the Giants’ present state and what they have invested in Jones, it would make little sense to rush him back.

“I think it’s a different injury, a different circumstance,” Jones said, via Leonard. “So I’m not really comparing it to that a couple years ago. But this was the advice from the doctors and trainers, so I’m gonna follow that.”

The Giants have discussed adding another veteran QB, Schwartz notes. Only former UDFA Tommy DeVito is in place — on the practice squad — behind Taylor. The Giants have used Taylor, Colt McCoy and Mike Glennon as their backups over the past four seasons. The move from McCoy to Glennon in 2021 helped key that brutal season-closing span that ended with Judge’s ouster. Taylor is one of the NFL’s most experienced backups, making his name as a three-year Bills starter. The Giants have the 13th-year veteran on a two-year, $11MM deal.

Despite not picking up Jones’ fifth-year option in 2022, the Giants circled back to him via a four-year, $160MM accord just before the March deadline to apply franchise tags. They were the first team to decline a QB’s fifth-year option and then re-sign him. The 11th-hour signing prevented the team from needing to tag Jones, allowing a Saquon Barkley tag. The Giants, however, have not followed up their divisional-round surge with competency. They are 1-4, rank 31st in scoring offense and have allowed Jones to be sacked 16 times over the past two games. Given the state of Big Blue’s offensive line, Jones being sent back out there at less than 100% would be a strange ask.

The Giants are unlikely to have Andrew Thomas back, per Schwartz. The All-Pro left tackle has missed four games with a hamstring injury, suffering a setback midway through his recovery process. They played last week without starting center John Michael Schmitz and fill-in guard Shane Lemieux.

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