Despite seven games remaining, the postmortem of the 2024 Giants has already begun. Who is to blame? Is it Jones? Is it head coach Brian Daboll? General manager Joe Schoen? Honestly, the full answer might be all of the above.

The Giants clearly benefited from the hype surrounding their Cinderella-adjacent 2022 postseason. The unexpected playoff berth and a good-but-not-great season from Jones gave the impression of momentum that quickly dissipated. So starved for success after Eli Manning’s retirement, the Giants thought the combination of Jones, Barkley and Daboll’s coaching could lead to glory. Management pushed their chips to the center of the table thinking they had a winning hand, but then realized they had completely misinterpreted their cards.

A few years ago, the Denver Broncos went all-in on the Seahawks’ Super Bowl-winning signal caller Russell Wilson. Two years and two head coaches later, Wilson was released (despite still owing a lot of money to Denver) and signed by Pittsburgh, where he found success with the Steelers. But even in early 2024, there were reports that the Steelers were considering sending Wilson elsewhere in favor of former Bears quarterback Justin Fields.

The Jets, New York’s long-suffering “other football team,” traded for former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Aaron Rodgers in 2023 to end a Super Bowl drought of more than 50 years. But just past the midpoint of Year 2 of Rodgers’ contract, the Jets’ season is in shambles, with reports emerging this week that team owner Woody Johnson wants to bench his aging 40-year-old star after the team’s loss against the Denver Broncos. end of September.

And then there’s the Cleveland Browns’ historically bad deal for Deshaun Watson, worth $230 million over five years. The oft-injured Watson has a losing record and mediocre stats. He was also signed after dozens of women have sued him for sexual misconduct and harassment during his time with the Houston Texans. (Watson was suspended 11 games and fined $5 million in 2022 for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, but a Texas grand jury failed to indict him on criminal charges.)

Can Daniel Jones replicate Russell Wilson’s success and find new life in another uniform? Maybe with the right pieces around him. I hear the Cowboys need a quarterback now that the equally highly paid and underperforming Dak Prescott is sitting out the rest of the year with a hamstring injury. Barkley has had success with another NFC East team. Maybe Danny Dimes can be redeemed in Dallas. Or not. That’s the problem with NFL quarterbacks. They fly closest to the sun, but some inevitably fall back to Earth. Difficult.