After clearing waivers on Monday, former New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones has chosen his new NFL home. According to CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones, Jones is signing with the Minnesota Vikings. ESPN reports Jones is signing a one-year deal worth $375K, and will start out on the Vikings practice squad.
It was the Vikings who Jones helped upset in the playoffs as a member of the Giants during the 2022 postseason, directly leading to the four-year, $160 million extension he signed that following offseason. It's the same Vikings who admitted they "felt a little bad" for Jones as they dominated him in a Week 1 28-6 victory this past September.
The Vikings were one of CBS Sports' projected landing spots for Jones. Minnesota's quarterback of the future appears to be first-round pick J.J. McCarthy, who is out for the year with a knee injury, while Sam Darnold is a pending free agent who has made some money for himself with a career year. The Vikings also have Nick Mullens and Brett Rypien on roster, but McCarthy is the only quarterback under contract beyond this year.
Jones will be with the Vikings for just six regular-season games and however long Minny's playoff run lasts before he is again a free agent with the opportunity to sign with any team he likes. But Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell is an offensive mind who knows how to make quarterbacks comfortable, and he gets another reclamation project in the former No. 6 overall pick out of Duke. During a press conference earlier this week, O'Connell shared his personal interest in Jones.
"I will say tons of respect for Daniel Jones as a player and person," O'Connell said. "Got to know him through the draft process years ago and I'm sure now that he's a free agent there's probably a ton of league-wide interest in him. Daniel's gonna make the decision that's best for him and his career moving forward. I'm sure he's working through that process right now.
"I can just say I've been a fan of Daniel's for a long time, and hope wherever his next stop takes him it's a good opportunity for him."
The Giants demoted Jones from QB1 last week seemingly to save themselves from the $23 million injury guarantee in Jones' contract. It was expected New York would part ways with Jones in the offseason to maximize its cap savings, but after a dramatic week in which the Giants attracted negative headlines while Jones also requested his release, New York made the decision to move on immediately.
It remains to be seen if Jones will see the field as a Viking, or when he will be promoted from the practice squad, but he gets the chance to end the season with an NFC contender and respected coaching staff.
