A report in December indicated that the Giants would bring head coach Joe Judge and quarterback Daniel Jones back for the 2022 season, but the final few weeks of the regular season led to a change on the coaching front.
Judge was fired on Tuesday after going 10-23 in two seasons with the team and co-owner John Mara said on Wednesday that part of the reason for the move was General Manager Dave Gettleman’s retirement. Mara said the team wants to give the next G.M. “the flexibility to bring in the head coach that he wants” for next season.
Mara was asked what the changes mean for Jones and he suggested that same flexibility would be in place when it came to dealing with the quarterback, running back Saquon Barkley and the rest of the roster.
“In terms of Daniel or Saquon or anyone else you want to ask me, that’s going to be between the general manager and the head coach,” Mara said in a press conference.
Jones is headed into the fourth year of his rookie deal and coming off a neck injury that will likely influence any decisions about his fifth-year option and overall future with the organization. Barkley is heading into that option year with a salary of just over $7.2 million and any future commitments from the Giants will likely wait until the team sees if he can come anywhere close to returning to the level of play he reached in his first couple of NFL seasons.
