Last week, the New York Giants waived quarterback Daniel Jones after the former No. 6 overall pick requested his release following his benching in favor of Tommy DeVito. Jones — who was benched in large part so the Giants could avoid paying out the injury guarantees in his contract next offseason — cleared waivers on Monday and, earlier this week, signed with the Minnesota Vikings practice squad.
He addressed the media for the first time on Friday.
“Excited to be here. Excited to be a Minnesota Viking,” he said. “Awesome opportunity. Just looking to help out and be a part of this team. Got great momentum going and just want to help out in any way I can.”
Jones also explained why he chose to sign in Minnesota, when he reportedly had opportunities to sign with several different franchises.
“You look at, offensively, what they’ve been able to do, the system, coach O’Connell and his staff, just a lot of good things happening across the board as a team as an organization,” Jones said. “But on offense especially. Just excited to join that and help out wherever I can.”
Jones will likely serve as the backup to Sam Darnold, who has been starting this entire season in the wake of first-round pick J.J. McCarthy’s torn ACL, suffered during the preseason. The Vikings are 9-2 and likely on their way to the playoffs, and the ability to participate in the postseason reportedly also factored into Jones’ decision-making process.
Darnold has struggled at various times this season with turnovers, and if those issues crop up again, it’s possible the Vikings could turn to Jones. And because he signed with the practice squad rather than the active roster, he can freely sign with any other team if their starter gets injured and they want to offer him a starting role. He’ll then be a free agent again this coming offseason, and can decide whether to pursue a starting opportunity or sign on as a backup and look to rebuild his market value.
