BREAKING NEWS: Giants release Daniel Jones following his request after benching for Tommy DeVito. .giang

Daniel Jones’ tenure with the New York Giants surprisingly ended a few months before most people expected it would.

The Giants announced Friday that they granted Jones’ release after he requested to be let go in a meeting with team president John Mara.

Head coach Brian Daboll told reporters he informed the team of Jones’ release prior to Friday’s walkthrough practice.

Daboll went on to say Jones was a consummate professional during their time together and they had a “really good talk” prior to him being released.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter noted Jones will go on waivers, but he is “fully expected” to go unclaimed because of his contract. If he does, he will then become a free agent.

Schefter went on to say the Giants will have a dead-cap charge of more than $20 million by releasing Jones.

Coming out of the team’s bye last week, Daboll announced Monday that Jones was being replaced by Tommy DeVito as the starter going forward, and Drew Lock would be the No. 2 quarterback.

Video from the portion of Giants practice open to the media on Wednesday showed Jones was also taking reps behind practice squad quarterback Tim Boyle.

Jones was also being used on the scout team as a safety on defense during Thursday’s practice.

Daboll said Wednesday the Giants hadn’t yet decided if Jones or Boyle would be the No. 3 quarterback for this week’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Once Jones was benched, it signaled his time in New York was coming to an end. There were clear performance-based reasons to justify the move, but it was also protection for the organization, because his contract included a $23 million injury guarantee for 2025.

The Giants signed Jones to a four-year, $160 million contract in March 2023 after they made the playoffs during the 2022 season.

In 16 starts over the past two seasons after signing the new deal, Jones threw for 2,979 yards, 10 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. His 76.6 passer rating is the sixth-worst among all quarterbacks since the start of the 2023 campaign.

The Giants went 3-13 in Jones’ last 16 starts. They are 8-19 overall over the past two seasons, with their most recent game being a 20-17 overtime loss to the Carolina Panthers in Germany on Nov. 10.