Former New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is expected to officially be released Monday before finding a new destination for the remainder of the season, league sources tell ESPN.
No team is expected to claim Jones’ contract – $11,833,333 for this season on top of $23 million in injury guarantees after this season – making him officially free to sign with another team after 16 hours, Monday.
According to sources from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Jones will likely prefer to finish the season with a playoff-contending team, where he will be involved in the big games, rather than go to a team that needs a quarterback , but which would not be competitive at the moment, according to sources.
Several teams in the contender are likely to inquire about Jones and his level of interest, but Jones could make his decision quickly.
New York announced plans to part ways with Jones on Friday, ending the former first-rounder’s tenure with the Giants after more than five seasons. Giants owner John Mara said in a statement that the organization and Jones “mutually agreed” that the move “was best for him and the team.”
Once the Giants informed Jones earlier this week that they were benching him, things happened quickly.
Jones was removed from the Giants’ starting lineup to avoid the risk of injury, with Tommy DeVito as the starter, Drew Lock as the backup and newly drafted Tim Boyle as the third option.
None of this should come as much of a surprise: Similar scenarios have played out four times in the NFL over the past two seasons, before the Giants did the same to Jones this week.
Last season in Denver, the Broncos sidelined Russell Wilson before he suffered an injury and triggered a $37 million guarantee for 2024.
Also last season, the Raiders left Jimmy Garoppolo on the bench rather than risk injury, which could have guaranteed an additional $11.25 million that would have been due this season.
In 2022, the Colts scratched Matt Ryan in October, reducing the risk of having to pay the veteran quarterback a $7.5 million bonus in March 2023.
Later in the year, the Raiders benched Derek Carr to avoid having his $32.9 million salary for the 2023 season and $7.5 million of his 2024 salary guaranteed if he suffered a significant injury.
