With Eli Manning officially hanging up his cleats, Daniel Jones has been given the keys to the Giants franchise, so to speak, as the team hopes that he will be the leader of the offense for years to come.

But there's another member of the Giants' quarterbacks room who has apparently played a huge role in Jones' development, and now the young quarterback could be on the verge of losing another mentor.

Veteran Alex Tanney has been a key figure in Jones' development. In fact, Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post was told as much by "a longtime NFL offensive assistant who was interested in a position with the Giants this offseason."

"I was told, 'If you end up there somehow, you have to keep Tanney around because of the job he does with Jones,'" the coach told The Post. "Tanney did prep work for Jones. He spent all day with Jones."

An NFL journeyman, Tanney was originally signed by the Giants in May 2018 after stops in Kansas City, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, Tennessee (two stints), Buffalo, and Indianapolis. A backup to Manning in 2018, Tanney fell to third on the depth chart once Jones was selected in the first round of the 2019 draft.

And while Tanney seems to be a valuable mentor off the field, a crowded Giants QB room could now force him to look for a new team come the regular season. Behind Jones, the Giants have Tanney, Cooper Rush (a favorite of offensive coordinator Jason Garrett), and undrafted free agent Case Cookus.

Tanney's contract for 2020 is set to pay him just a touch over $1 million, but the Giants could save all of that money by releasing him.

New head coach Joe Judge has talked repeatedly about the value of competition, so the Giants must decide whether or not Tanney's mentoring ability is still enough to give him a spot on the 53-man roster, ahead of someone like Rush, who knows Garrett's offense, or potentially even Cookus.

Perhaps in an ideal world, Jones has developed enough to the point where he doesn't need a player like Tanney to help show him the ropes and learn the ins and outs of the playbook.

Video: Ralph Vacchiano reacts to Giants 2020 schedule

Popular in the Community