Former Giants quarterback Daniel Jones has explained why he signed with the Vikings.
Jones was benched by the Giants last week due to a combination of ineffectiveness and the team not wanting to risk being on the hook for a large injury guarantee.
After a situation where Jones was assigned to play safety on the scout team in practice, he requested his release which the team granted.
Jones landed as a backup on 9-2 Vikings, and spoke to reporters Friday about why he chose to sign there.
“You look at offensively what they’ve been able to do, the system, coach [Kevin] O’Connell and his staff. Just a lot of good things happening across the board as a team and organization, and on offense especially,” Jones said, as covered by Sports Illustrated. “Just excited to join that and help out where I can.”
Jones will be backing up Sam Darnold, a fellow former first-round pick who flamed out of New York after three years with the Jets.
Darnold has had a renaissance in O’Connell’s system in Minnesota.
“We haven’t had a ton of crossover on film, so I haven’t watched too closely,” Jones said Friday, referring to Darnold. “But just from following him and seeing some games on TV, obviously he’s been playing at an extremely high level and doing a lot of good things. Happy for him. I’ve known Sam for a while know, and always kind of pulled for him. He’s had a great year and played at a really high level.”
The brightest spot in Jones’ NFL career came when he led a 31-24 upset on the road against the Vikings in the 2022-23 playoffs.
“I like U.S. Bank Stadium,” Jones said, smiling. “It is an incredible stadium, and the fans there are incredible. I’m looking forward to being back there and seeing it on Sunday.”