Last season was one of trials and tribulations for the Jets and Giants. Neither squad made the playoffs nor were genuine contenders. The Jets were 7-10, third in the AFC looking up at the division-winning Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins, both which were 11-6. The Giants went 6-11, a distant third in the NFC East behind the 12-5 Dallas Cowboys and 11-6 Philadelphia Eagles.
The slate is clean and the Jets have expectations of not only making the playoffs, but being in the mix for the Super Bowl, contingent on future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers staying on the field and minimizing the drama that perpetually encircles him, much of it self-produced. The excitement of Rodgers’s first season with the Jets after he came to the franchise via a trade with the Green Bay Packers in April of 2023 was abruptly muted when he ruptured his left Achilles tendon on the Jets’ fourth offensive snap in the regular season opener last September 11.
His primary backup, Zach Wilson, who was the Jets’ would-be long term franchise QB when they drafted him No. 2 overall in 2021, was ill-equipped to capably take over the offense and consequently the Jets plummeted. Wilson was traded to the Broncos this past April.
Now head coach Robert Saleh, in his fourth season in the position, is at an inflection point as the expectations are rightfully high for the team to make it to the postseason and end the NFL’s longest active drought. The Jets’ last playoff game was on January 23, 2011, when they lost 24-19 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship game at Heinz Field, over 13 years ago.
From an objective qualitative analysis, the Giants have more deficiencies at critically important positions than the Jets. They addressed one of them by drafting dynamic wide receiver Malik Nabers from LSU with the No. 6 pick in the first round of the NFL Draft in April. But Nabers’s potential impact will be tightly tied to Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, who tore the ACL in his right knee on November 5 in Week 9 on the road against the Las Vegas Raiders. Jones was out for the Giants’ final eight games in which they were 4-4. At the time of Jones’s ACL injury, the Giants were already laboring at 2-7 and he had already been sidelined for Weeks 6-8 with a neck injury.
This could be Jones’s last season with the Giants. He was drafted with the sixth pick in 2019 by the Giants previous general manager Dave Gettleman. The job security of current GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll isn’t tied to Jones having a season where he elevates his teammates and by extension the collective fortunes of the Giants. Daboll did the most with Jones in 2022 when the QB had his best season as a pro: the Giants went 9-7-1 and then defeated the Minnesota Vikings on the road 31-24 in a NFC wild card game.
Now Jones is in year six, and his career has reached a crossroads.