Thursday, Fox’s Tom Brady criticized former Giants quarterback Daniel Jones for having requested his release, after being placed on the bench for professional reasons.
Brady prefaced his comments by saying this: “I don’t know how this whole situation played out. . . “.
So we took the steps for him. Here’s what we learned, according to a source with knowledge of the events.
For starters, the Giants initially wanted Jones to stay home, on salary. That’s what the Raiders did two years ago, when they benched quarterback Derek Carr to avoid a $40 million guarantee in 2023. Carr agreed.
The player must be ready to do this; it cannot be locked out. The rule dates back to Steve McNair’s grievance against the Titans in 2006. After drafting Vince Young, the Titans did not want McNair to get injured while he was out there, triggering his otherwise unguaranteed salary. McNair and the NFL Players Association fought, they won, and they set a precedent that teams cannot prevent a player from reporting for work for non-disciplinary reasons.
There’s nothing wrong with the Giants wanting Jones to stay home. It’s a natural extension of their decision to remove him from the lineup. But the request for Jones to stay at home laid the groundwork for Jones to ultimately ask to be released.
His first choice, we’re told, was to stay active and help other quarterbacks prepare to win games. When he decided not to stay home, the Giants modified his training program to minimize, if not eliminate, the risk of injury. He wasn’t going to throw in practice and his lifting program was significantly restricted. All this to keep him healthy.
Business considerations prevented Jones from doing anything to help the team. No real training (other than scout team, security in passing), no throwing, limited lifting. He wasn’t preparing to play, because he wouldn’t have played. He wasn’t allowed to participate in practice because they didn’t want to risk triggering his $23 million injury guarantee for 2023.
Again, there’s nothing wrong with the Giants wanting to avoid the injury guarantee. But it partly explains Jones’ final decision to ask to be released.
Brady, we are told, has not contacted Jones or his representation for an explanation as to why Jones requested to be released.
It’s easy for Brady to say he would have handled the situation differently, because he’s never been put in this situation in his 20-year career. What would he have done if the Patriots or Buccaneers had benched him for work reasons, asked him to go home with a salary, then stopped him from practicing when he said he wanted stay ?
Additionally, Brady left his New England teammates in free agency after the 2019 season. After the 2021 season, he retired. About a month later he returned. In the meantime, efforts were made to lure him to the Dolphins; it was never suggested that Brady was not on board with the plan to pair him with Sean Payton in Miami, after Brady essentially left the Buccaneers. Then, during training camp 2022, Brady left the team for over a week.
We will stipulate that Brady had good reasons for every business decision he made. So, would he have wanted Greg Olsen or Tony Romo or Cris Collinsworth or Troy Aikman or Kirk Herbstreit to make assumptions during massive broadcast windows about Brady’s motivations and his actions? Or would Brady have wanted them to make a phone call or two looking for, you know, facts?
For $37.5 million per year from Fox, Brady would have to spend some time getting to know the player’s side of the story before throwing out any mudslinging. in front of a crowd of 38.5 million people.
