It was going to happen. It was a matter of when, not if.
At some point, Daniel Jones was going to struggle, the Giants were going to lose a game and, just like that, open season on Jones would commence. There would be voluminous analysis, criticism and derision all leading to the same conclusion, crystalized with one word: overpaid.
Cashing in has its rewards and sure beats the alternative. Tevye, in “Fiddler on the Roof,” knew that when he said, “I realize there’s no shame in being poor … but it’s no great honor, either. So what would have been so terrible if I had a small fortune?”
Jones bagged his big fortune March 7 when weeks of negotiating culminated in a four-year contract worth $160 million, a deal that was instantly chided as excessive in many corners of the NFL landscape. It almost felt personal, some of the shots taken at Jones, as if “How dare they give him all that money.’’
There is no doubt the notion of Jones as a franchise quarterback is a polarizing concept. The belief in him inside the Giants’ building — general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll inherited him and did not have to keep him — does not match the outside assessment of Jones.
Through three games, he has two touchdown passes, four interceptions, a passer rating of 70.0 and has been sacked 12 times. The Giants are 1-2 and averaging 14.3 points a game.
Has Jones been great? No. Has he been good? Mostly, no. Has his offense been terrible? Mostly, yes. And that means it is piñata time on the Giants’ first-round pick in the 2019 draft.
The season-opening 40-0 loss to the Cowboys was embarrassing on every level, and Jones was spared the harshest reviews because his offensive line gave him no chance. The anti-Jones faction was in overdrive in the first half in Arizona before his spectacular running and passing exhibition led the Giants to 31 second-half points and a stop-the-bleeding comeback victory.
“Worth every penny,’’ Boomer Esiason said on WFAN.
Four days later, Jones’ worth was once again put through the wringer. The Giants were overmatched in every way — they weren’t beating the 49ers without Saquon Barkley and probably not with him, either — and Jones was shaky, missing throws he normally makes.
The 49ers were waiting for an athletic assault from Jones that never came. He ran the ball only twice for a total of 2 yards. Keeping the sports car in the garage made no sense.
“I was a little surprised they didn’t go with the zone-read game a little bit,’’ 49ers defensive end Joey Bosa said. “We expected that. We didn’t get that much.’’
That was not all that was said about Jones.
It was almost as if the 49ers took umbrage with the direct deposits flowing into Jones’ account. Players anonymously told the San Francisco Chronicle Jones’ salary was “unbelievable’’ and “ridiculous’’ and “a travesty.’’ Others went on the record, crossing a thin line, as it is usually taboo to bash another players’ salary.
“Forty million dollars a year is a lot of money,” cornerback Charvarius Ward said.
“A lot of people who make all that money don’t even deserve it,’’ added linebacker Dre Greenlaw. “I think they took a chance. I mean, he’s not bad. And if you ain’t got nothing better.’’
The blitz on Jones kept coming. None other than Donovan McNabb, for no real reason, came out of the woodwork and took a shot at Jones because he could.
“I was looking forward to this upcoming season to see changes in Daniel Jones because, to be honest with you, I’m not a big Daniel Jones fan,’’ McNabb, the former Eagles quarterback, said Friday on his OutKick show.
McNabb went on to say Jones has not done anything to earn the contract, that the Giants paid him “because they didn’t want to give the big splash money to Saquon Barkley,’’ and demanded that the masses who ripped the Broncos for giving Russell Wilson an extension worth $245 million put that “same energy’’ into coming down on Jones.
Jones is such a stoic and such a non-participant on social media that all the nasty noise rarely reaches his eyes and ears. The Giants guaranteed the square-jawed Dukie $104 million and he is off to a rough start in his quest to win games and, along the way, prove he is worth the investment.
Those who do not monitor the Giants closely must wonder about the money handed out to Jones. He is 1-11 in prime-time games — the worst record by a quarterback with at least 10 starts since 1970. It is not all on him, of course, but quarterbacks who get paid are always on the clock. There is plenty of time for Daniel Jones to show he is better than this.
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