The media, finally, will point to players such as Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold as having a career path Jones can follow. But even if one believes this, it’s a hollow hope.
Mayfield is a good player in Tampa Bay after he failed in Cleveland. And in Carolina. And was allowed to leave from Los Angeles with few accomplishments.
Darnold is having a good year with the Vikings, after he failed with the Jets. And in Carolina. And sat around a season in San Francisco with few accomplishments.
So what these people are really saying is maybe Jones will be good after he lands with another team. And another. And perhaps in three or four years, at age 31, finds a situation that brings out the best in him.
Good luck to him for that.
But more likely, Daniel Jones is an experienced backup who can climb in the cockpit in an emergency and maybe not crash the plane. That’s it.
Nothing about the Mayfield situation translates to 3 or 4 years and age 31. Mayfield was traded at age 27, had a horrible year split between carolina / LAR and then had a bounce back year at age 28. DJ is 27 now (will be 28 before next season starts).
Many QBs would thrive under right circumstances. All of them are super talented with good arms. Jones ran for over 700 yards 2 years ago. His interception rate is better than Mayfield.
Giants had crappy WRs and relied on Barkley and now have one good WR and no RB. Jones would have been fine in MN, MIA, Cle but not Ten or LV. I feel he would have been better w Jets this year than Rodgers.
He should consider backing up Tua, Joe Burrow or competing in Cleveland. Chargers could be interesting.
Bengals already have one of the best backup QBs in Jake Browning. Would be hilarious if he went to the Eagles and won a SB with Saquon. Detroit is also interesting given how Goff revived his career. Sounds like he’ll sign with a playoff contender for the rest of the year, but backing up Tua next year makes a lot of sense.
I think that coaching quality is just as important as QB talent/athleticism for success in the NFL.
And I see part of that “coaching quality” also being the connection between the rookie QB, the QB coach, OC, and head coach. And this dynamic becomes even more important for a rookie starter.
preferred for him there. if another team wants to sign him he can from the PS but not the active. so he likely asked for the PS. MIN gets the super low investment 1st crack to evaluate him bc next year they need someone (darnold will get geno/baker money) to be ready next to JJ mccarthy
Merciful end to the season, win over Colts puts them in an uncertain spot in the Sanders/Ward QB lottery. Titans are likely to pick a QB, Cleveland may or may not depending on how they feel about Watson but my guess is that they are more likely to trade back to a team that is looking for a top QB.
Better than last year’s choices, I guess. Hard Knocks showed them fucking this up, keeping their shitty QB and dumping their star RB. Mara walking in, making stupid remarks, walking out.
Titans will almost certainly draft a QB. No telling what CLE will do, but a trade back is definitely possible. They are stuck with Watson in 2025, and even moving on before the 2026 season is difficult. Trade back or take Hunter or an OT are all possible. They might go QB, but I’d guess no.
Not now. Denver had to eat $85m and spread the hit by taking on $53 million in 2024 and $32 million in 2025. Watson’s current dead cap number is $172M. Not really possible to cut now even spreading it, as it’s more than double Wilson’s.
For 2026 his dead cap is $100M, so even waiting until next year will be painful.
For 2025 Browns are already $19M over the cap. Have to cut/restructure players already.
Anything is possible. Putting together a team without being able to spend money? That will be hard, but not impossible. Good news is they won’t get relegated, and the team will make money regardless.
Will they learn from this? No, they won’t. They are The Browns, and they have not learned for nearly 20 years. They will pick a QB without any O-Line protection and lose them to injury, cutting, trading, or free agency.
