Tom Brady Criticizes the New Vikings QB
There’s no doubt about it: Tom Brady will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer once he is eligible. He has won seven rings with the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and has recently entered the ranks of a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, a team with some QB uncertainty. The Vikings, meanwhile, have signed quarterback Daniel Jones, a QB with an uncertain future.
Tom Brady Criticizes the New Vikings QB
Daniel Jones was waived by the New York Giants less than two years after signing his big contract extension. He asked for a release after his demotion to QB3 (and scout team safety).
Numerous teams were rumored to be his next employer, but he ultimately joined the Minnesota Vikings, hoping to learn some tricks from Kevin O’Connell. The Raiders couldn’t lure him to Las Vegas despite having an opening under center following Gardner Minshew’s season-ending injury.
However, Brady didn’t like how Jones handled his tumultuous week after the demotion. He was in the broadcast booth for Thursday’s Thanksgiving game between the Cowboys and the Giants and talked about the former Giants signal-caller:
“I don’t know how the whole situation went down, but to think that you would ask for release from a team that committed a lot to you is maybe different than I would have handled that,” Brady said during the broadcast. “I always felt I wanted to get the trust and respect of my teammates regardless of situation, knowing that I was trying to be the best I could for the team because that was the most important thing.”
Indeed, the Giants committed $92 million to him when he signed his four-year extension, worth up to $160 million. They clearly benched him, intending to make sure he stays healthy and not trigger his injury guarantees in order to release him after the season.
Considering that his franchise was done with him and that he was ready to move on, Jones can hardly be blamed for his request to be released.
“There’s just some different things that happen in the NFL, and everyone makes individual choices and I think (we) all, at points in our career, face different challenges,” Brady continued. “I faced them in college, and some things didn’t go the way I wanted, but the people that mattered the most to me were the guys in the locker room. I showed up every day. I don’t care if they asked me to be scout team safety, be scout team quarterback. I was gonna do whatever I could to help the team win.”
Here, it is noteworthy that the Giants aren’t competing for any trophies; they are the current favorite to land the first overall pick. Helping the team win might not be in anyone’s interest.
At the end of the day, the Giants wanted to get rid of Jones’ contract without having to pay the injury guarantees, and Jones wanted to move on and get a headstart in his next chapter: an attempt to revive his career elsewhere.
In the Twin Cities, he can work with O’Connell, one of the brightest offensive minds in the NFL, a former quarterback himself, who has shown the ability to get the best out of his QBs. Jones can use the next few months to audition for the QB2 spot in Minnesota.
That job is desirable because of O’Connell, the offensive weapons, and the fact that J.J. McCarthy is virtually a rookie in 2025 after missing the entire 2024 campaign and the team needs an emergency plan if he isn’t ready to compete in Week 1.
The Giants are happy, Jones is glad it’s over, and the Vikings are delighted to get an early look at Jones. Brady’s shot is strange, to say the least.
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Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt