The Danny Dimes era came to an abrupt end for the New York Giants when the former No. 6 overall pick was released on Friday, just a few days after being benched by the team.

Although Daniel Jones is about to hit the waiver wire, it would be a shock if an NFL team were willing to claim him and pick up the remainder of the four-year, $160 million extension he’s due in 2023 signed with the Giants. If he inevitably clears waivers, he’ll be free to sign with any team.

The Miami Dolphins would be wise to take the opportunity to add Jones next.

Earlier this season, the Dolphins learned a painful lesson: their offense simply isn’t functional without Tua Tagovailoa at the helm. Miami managed just three points in Skylar Thompson’s start in Week 3 and scored just one touchdown in each of the three games Tyler Huntley started.

Since Tagovailoa’s return from injured reserve, the offense has come back to life. He has completed 77.7 percent of his passes with seven touchdowns and one interception over the last four weeks and the Dolphins have averaged 27.8 points per game.

But there’s little doubt that if he gets hurt again, Miami’s season will be over. Both Thompson and Huntley – who will soon compete for the No. 2 spot on the depth chart – made it abundantly clear that they are unable to match Tagovailoa’s success.

Could Jones?

It’s hard to say, but there are some indications he could fit into Mike McDaniel’s offense. Last season, Jones averaged 2.54 seconds per pass attempt — not nearly Tagovailoa’s blazing 2.25 seconds — but he was still in the top 10 in the NFL. Jones completed an NFL-best 80.4 percent of the passes he completed in under 2.5 seconds. Tagovailoa received 73.4 percent.

Miami’s offense is completely dependent on the quarterback being able to deliver the ball quickly and accurately. Even though it’s unlikely that Jones could do that, there’s pretty definitive evidence that no one currently on the Dolphins roster can do it even close to the way Tagovailoa can.

At the very least, Jones offers hope that the Dolphins offense could survive another stretch without Tagovailoa long enough to stay in the postseason hunt.

But perhaps even more appealing is the fact that signing Jones would likely mean a free draft pick for the Dolphins in the future.

If the former top 10 draft pick and $160 million quarterback leaves as a free agent in March and signs elsewhere, that would likely be enough to qualify his final team for a compensatory draft pick in 2026. Even mid-level backup quarterback money is usually enough. to qualify, such as when the New York Jets received a seventh-round pick in 2024 because of the two-year, $8 million deal Mike White signed with the Dolphins in 2023.

Is Jones the long-term answer to the Dolphins’ backup quarterback woes? Probably not. But he could be a band-aid for a team clearly bereft of a solution and perhaps provide some starting capital as well.