After Giants release Daniel Jones, what comes next in New York?

The New York Giants officially ended the Daniel Jones era on Friday, releasing the fifth-year quarterback after his unceremonious benching prior to Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

There are few Giants fans who will remember Jones fondly; the occasional flashes of brilliance couldn't keep pace with his infuriating decision-making and consistent poor play, and when the end came this week, the only surprise was that it came so abruptly.

But now that Jones is gone, what does the future hold for the Giants? Is there success on the horizon for a fan base desperate for a return to glory, or are they destined to be the doormat of the NFC East for the forseeable future?

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In the short term, things are going to get a lot worse this season before they get better. While New Yorkers love them some Tommy DeVito, let's not get too far out over our skis here: he's probably not going to be the answer at quarterback for more than a game or two this season.

He had a singular performance that anyone would categorize as good last year: a 246-yard, three-touchdown performance against a woeful Commanders team in a 31-19 win. Outside of that game, Tommy Cutlets failed to crack the 200-yard mark at any point in any of his starts, and was largely running an offense in which the plan was "hand the ball off and try not to break anything." If he had made any kind of leap this season, odds are we would have seen DeVito well before now.

To make matters worse, New York's run game has been middling at best. They're 13th in offensive EPA rushing the ball (which is admittedly much better than they are passing or overall), per nfelo.

That means that barring some kind of miraculous turnaround down the stretch, the Giants will be staring down the barrel of yet another season with at least 10 to 12 losses, if not more. That will be the second straight such season under head coach Brian Daboll, and the seventh season out of the last eight in which the Giants posted 10 or more losses.

That won't bode well for either head coach Brian Daboll OR general manager Joe Schoen. The pair inherited a massive mess from the previous Dave Gettleman-Joe Judge regime; a tough payroll, and one of the least-talented rosters in the NFL. And while the cleanup is underway, losing 10 or more games, and possibly losing 12-15 games down the stretch is not a good way to endear yourself to your fan base or owner John Mara.

Currently, Mara doesn't want to fire either of them, according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, but you can expect both of their seats to get pretty warm heading into next year if the slide continues.

But, surely with the high draft pick that will come from their foibles this year, New York will get themselves a quarterback who can help fix the problem, right?

Not so fast.

The 2025 NFL Draft class projects to be one of the worst quarterback drafts in recent history. While not as bad as the 2022 Draft (Steelers fans just suppressed an involuntary shudder thinking about Kenny Pickett), none of the quarterbacks in this year's draft are anything close to a sure thing.

Miami's Cam Ward is a brilliant playmaker and improviser, with a great arm, but he has the kind of chaotic tendencies that would keep even the most confident offensive coordinators up at night. He's the kind of high-ceiling, low-floor signal caller who could become the next great gunslinger, or could wash out in a hurry. Colorado's Shedeur Sanders has shown an incredible level of polish this season throwing to all levels of the defense, but he still needs to release the ball quicker, and with an offensive line that ranks 22nd in sack percentage on the season, that does not inspire confidence.

There's no surefire savior on the horizon, as every quarterback in this class comes with a few potential red flags. And with teams like the Jets, Raiders, and Browns all certainly in the market for a franchise quarterback, and teams like the Panthers, Saints, and Seahawks potentially looking for an upgrade, it figures to be a crowded pool of clubs vying for what's there.

We haven't even gotten to the defense, which ranks 25th in EPA despite a league-best sack rate this season. There are still a lot of holes on this roster, and they're not going to get plugged quickly.

In other words, buckle up Giants fans. It could be a long, long couple of seasons before things turn around.

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