Hey, John Mara: Your Giants are a laughing stock. It’s time to admit the mistake and bench Daniel Jones for good.

It’s hard to decide which Daniel Jones type was most worthy of a permanent bench seat in the first half of the Giants’ embarrassing loss to the Panthers in Germany.

Was it the horrific fall to Malik Nabers on third-and-eight on their first offensive attack – where Jones had a clean pocket and an open target with Nabers, who set a handful of records in his first seven NFL games?

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Or perhaps his decision to eat a sack while trying to flicker instead of at least attempt a deep ball to Wan’Dale Robinson or Nabers who were wide open 20 yards down the field?

If none of them killed him, surely Xavier Woods’ interception – which came off Jadeveon Clowney, who Jones could have easily fooled with a pump fake – would have come with 1:54 left in the half.

Unfortunately, coach Brian Daboll still didn’t give in – and it cost him another winnable game.

The Giants lost to the Panthers in overtime on Sunday 20:17 at the Allianz Arena in Munich. Jones finished the game with 190 yards on 22 of 37 passing, one rushing touchdown and two interceptions.

And look, like every other week, Jones showed flashes to close out the game. This was particularly evident on the Giants’ 13-play, 96-yard drive in the fourth quarter, which he capped off with a rushing touchdown, and on the final drive of regulation before Graham Gano scored the 42-yard field goal to send the game into extension.

And although it wasn’t Jones who made the game-winning mistake in overtime, his inconsistent play up to that point hampered his team again.

Case in point: Just as the Giants, who had just forced a turnover, were threatening to take their first lead of the fourth quarter, Jones threw a boneheaded interception intended for Tyrone Tracy at Carolina’s eight-yard line.

The Giants are now 2-8 – the worst record in football (currently) – and are on a five-game losing streak.

Perhaps the most embarrassing stat for Jones and Co.: The Giants were actually the favorites entering this game, which hasn’t been the case since Week 2 of 2023, when they had the Arizona Cardinals as 4.5-point away favorites at 31: 28 defeated.

This season is beyond lost – so much so that John Mara may have no choice but to rescind the Daboll/Joe Schoen vote of confidence he made at the end of October.

And while this may require greater discussion, the Jones decision should not.

The time to bench the sixth-year quarterback is over. If Schoen, Daboll, or especially Mara can’t see that after this latest bastard, then someone else must be in charge behind the scenes.

Jones’ season numbers are… good – 2,070 passing yards, with a brutal touchdown-to-interception ratio of 8-7. But performances like this — posting a 50.5 quarterback rating against the Panthers, one of the bottom three NFL defenses — are simply unacceptable.

The longer the Giants keep the running-happy Jones out of this lost season, the more they bet on their future cap situation.

Remember: Jones has a $23 million injury guarantee in his contract – meaning if he suffers a serious injury that prevents him from passing a physical exam on March 12, he will be guaranteed in Amount of $12 million, and if he can’t pass the physical exam within a week 1 next season he will get another $11 million.

If the Giants want to optimize their future, they must be able to do without Jones next offseason. Putting him in bubble wrap for the rest of this season is undoubtedly the right move for a team that has only made the playoffs twice since winning the Super Bowl in 2011. The exit of Drew Lock (who is also not good) can’t happen The dramatic.

Look, we all know that Jones’ four-year, $160 million contract was a mistake. The owners would never admit it, but games like this make it clear.

Mara can either minimize the impact of the deal by (rightfully) benching his overpaid QB and releasing him this offseason, or risk an injury that would haunt his team for years to come.

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Ryan Novozinsky can be reached at [email protected]. You can follow him on X @ryannovo62.