Tom Brady has made his feelings on Daniel Jones’ departure from the New York Giants abundantly clear.
Jones, who signed a $160 million contract just 18 months ago, started 69 games for the G-Men across a decidedly underwhelming six-year stint in The Big Apple.
The 27-year-old was subsequently benched for his poor performances ahead of last week’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in favor of third-string signal caller Tommy DeVito.
Jones reportedly asked Giants owner John Mara to be released, and the pair mutual agreed to part ways Jones became a free agent after clearing waivers, ultimately signing with the Minnesota Vikings.
Seven-time Super Bowl winner Brady was asked about Jones’ exit while on the call for the Thanksgiving Day game between the Cowboys and Giants.
The $375 million Fox Sports color commentator didn’t hold back, saying he didn’t like the way Jones went about it and that he would have handled it differently.
“I don’t know how the whole situation went down,” Brady stated.
“But to think that you would ask for a release from a team that committed a lot to you is maybe different than how I would’ve handled that.”
“I always felt I wanted to get the trust and respect of my teammates regardless of the situation, knowing that I was trying to be the best I could for the team, because that was the most important thing.”
Brady went on to compare some of the experiences he had in college at the University of Michigan to Jones’ situation with the Giants.
The legendary quarterback was seventh on the depth chart when he enrolled at Michigan in the mid 1990s and was a backup QB for the unbeaten Wolverines who won the national championship in 1997.
Brady continued to struggle for playing time and briefly considered transferring to the University of California, Berkeley, but through determination, hard work, and perseverance, he eventually broke through.
“There are just some different things that happen in the NFL and everybody makes individual choices and I think we’re all at different points in our career faced with different challenges,” Brady went on. “I faced them in college. And some things didn’t go the way I wanted.
“But the people that mattered most to me were the guys in the locker room. I showed up every day. I don’t care if they ask me to be scout team safety or scout team quarterback. I was going to do whatever I could to help the team win.”
Jones was the No. 6 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, enduring three bad first seasons where the team never won more than five games.
Things picked up in 2022 when he posted career-highs in completions (317), pass attempts (472), passing yards (3,205), rushing yards (708), and rushing touchdowns (7).
Encouraged, the Giants handed Jones a four-year, $160 million deal in 2023, before things rapidly went south.
Jones tore his ACL six games into the 2023 season, causing him to miss the rest of the year.
Things went from bad to worse this year as the former Duke Blue Devils quarterback struggled, leading the team to a 2-8 record in his first 10 games.
The team made the executive decision to bench Jones with the injury guarantee in his contract at the forefront of their mind. They risked paying him an additional $23 million if he sustained a significant injury, which they patently wanted to avoid, hence the reason for cutting ties.
The Vikings went on to sign Jones for $375,000, and he will start on the team’s practice squad.
However, Big Blue still owes Jones a salary of over $11 million for the remainder of the 2024 campaign, and they’ll also incur a dead cap hit of $22.2 million in 2025. But perhaps more importantly, they’ll free up $19.4 million in cap space next year and clear the books for 2026.
Minnesota’s QB depth chart now has Sam Darnold, Nick Mullens and Brett Rypien with J.J. McCarthy on injured reserve.
But with head coach Kevin O’Connell’s history of honing young quarterbacks, Jones will look to get more game time with a winning franchise.
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