Breaking: Giants close in to land former Patriots super Bowl winner amid injuries.
The New York Giants may be forced to recruit a veteran quarterback if Drew Lock is forced to miss Week 1 of the NFL preseason in 2024 due to injury against the Detroit Lions. Super Bowl winner Brian Hoyer’s expertise and pedigree are hard to come by.
The 38-year-old former backup for the New England Patriots, Tom Brady, is currently employed by his former team as a broadcaster. Still, Hoyer’s name is on the roster of qualified quarterbacks that Jordan Raanan of ESPN has put together.
Hoyer is accustomed to playing the most crucial position in football as the next man up. The Houston Texans and Cleveland Browns have both started the former undrafted free agent.
Giving Hoyer the option to postpone retirement for an additional year would provide Big Blue with invaluable backup insurance for starting Daniel Jones. Hoyer’s short-term contract serves as insurance in case Lock is out for an extended amount of time.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Lock had “a bad bone contusion and strained oblique” during the 14-3 victory over the Lions on Thursday, August 8. The 27-year-old is “expected to miss some time, but no surgery is required.”
Given that Jones ended the previous season on injured reserve due to an ACL tear, a trustworthy QB2 is required. Although Jones is currently fit, it has been difficult for him to maintain that state as a signal-caller who also need competition after he has had difficulty producing when he has been on the field.
Brian Hoyer Is Still Valuable
Throughout his extensive professional career, Hoyer served with the Patriots for three tours. During one of those periods, as Brady’s backup in the 2018 season, Hoyer won a Super Bowl.
Hoyer was a rookie in 2009 when he made his Patriots debut. It signaled the beginning of prolonged exposure to a backup’s existence.
Hoyer is accustomed to maintaining his physical and mental readiness. He is proficient enough with a playbook to be able to take over and lead an attack when called upon.
If the Giants could persuade Hoyer to come back for a 16th season, that’s what they need. Before signing with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2023, he did toy with the notion of putting up his spikes.
Hoyer wouldn’t be the same as Lock as a possible Jones successor, but the Giants could rely on him for a year.
Drew Lock Setback May Change the Succession Strategy
A clause in Lock’s contract said that the Giants compensated Lock as an obvious second choice instead of as a possible starter. There were even rumors that the former quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos had been brought in to replace Jones.
That theory gained more traction when Connor Hughes of SNY.tv supported Lock depriving a struggling Jones of first-team reps during training camp. Then, Lock saw a lot of playing time against the Lions.
But Lock barely demonstrated enough to give the impression that he can be the Giants’ starting quarterback for the long run. Rather, Lock found it difficult to make the correct readings, as evidenced by the time Bobby Skinner of the Talkin’ Giants highlighted his interception after Lock was tricked by coverage.
Because of Lock’s problems, it was more important to have Tommy DeVito, the cult favorite from the previous season, as a third-string option. DeVito is capable of contributing, but Hoyer would give the rotation more security.
