Daniel Jones took plenty of hits behind the Giants offensive line, but the former New York quarterback suffered another one on U.S. Thanksgiving.
None other than retired NFL great Tom Brady took a shot at Jones while commentating on the Giants game vs. the Cowboys on Thursday, tearing into the former first-round pick for asking for his release following his demotion last week.
Brady, who won seven Super Bowl during his playing career, said he would not have asked for his release from a team that “committed a lot to you.”
“I don’t know how the whole situation went down, but to think that you would ask to be released from a team that committed a lot to you is maybe different than I would have handled that,” the former New England and Tampa Bay star said during commentary for Fox Sports.
“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 that I could for the team because that was the most important thing.”
After being benched last week and demoted to third string on the depth chart, Jones reportedly approached Giants owner John Mara and asked to be released.
The quarterback had signed a four-year, $160-million contract with the team in 2023 after leading them to the playoffs the previous season.
However, Jones tore his ACL during the 2023 season and has struggled this season, going 2-8 before being benched for Tommy DeVito last week by coach Brian Daboll.
In the wake of his demotion, Jones was even lined up as a scout-team safety on defence during a practice ahead of Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
During his scathing criticism of Jones, Brady went on to add: “There’s just some different things that happen in the NFL and everyone makes individual choices.
“I think we all at different points in our career face different challenges. 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 asked me to be scout team safety [or] be scout team quarterback … I was gonna do whatever I can to help the team win.”
After Brady’s comments went viral, former Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes was quick to point out a delightful piece of irony: The Las Vegas Raiders – of which Brady is a minority owner – were interested in signing Jones after his release.
“This is funny,” Tynes wrote on X, including a video of Brady’s comments. “The Raiders were all over Daniel Jones and wanted to sign him. You know, the team that Brady is minority owner of.”
Jones, however, signed with the Vikings this week to serve as a backup QB under Sam Darnold, a former washout of the New York Jets who has resurrected his career under coach Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota.