Charlie Jones had a straightforward decision to make this week, and he didn’t need long to make it.
The Giants wide receiver could have gone back to the Cincinnati Bengals and slipped back into the role he knows best there, handling punts and kickoffs. Instead, he chose to stay in New York and keep his spot on the Giants’ 53-man roster.
“I have respect for that organization [the Bengals]. They drafted me.
It’s just not the right fit. They chose to go in a different direction,” Jones said while standing at his locker on Wednesday.
“I’m trying to prove what I can do [as] more than just a returner.”
Jones, 27, arrived in the NFL as a fourth-round pick by Cincinnati in the 2023 draft, but the receiving production never really followed. He caught only eight passes across three seasons, with just one reception in the last two years.
That was always going to be a tough path in a Bengals receiver room built around Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. In New York, the names ahead of him are Malik Nabers, Darnell Mooney and Malachi Fields.
His exit from Cincinnati came at the end of the preseason, when the Bengals cut him and he landed on the Giants practice squad. Cincinnati later showed interest in bringing him back after moving on from returner Ke’Shawn Williams, who muffed a punt in Sunday’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Still, Jones said he signed with the Giants with the belief that a roster spot could open up.
“I think that was our thinking. Making this the move and staying here once the opportunity to go back was given.
When you have two number ones in your room, like Ja’Marr and Tee, it’s tough for everyone else,” Jones said. “I’ve been waiting since I got in the league to really show what I can do as a receiver.
I waited basically my whole college career to show that as well.”
That hunger has been a long time coming. Jones spent his first three college seasons at Buffalo and Iowa, where he totaled only 39 catches. His breakout came at Purdue, where he posted 110 receptions for 1,361 yards and 12 touchdowns in his final year.
Even with the receiving questions, Jones has kept his value as a return specialist. He has averaged 9.2 yards on 50 punt returns and 27.3 yards on 45 kickoff returns. And with Deonte Banks still working through a calf injury and Tyrone Tracy now on the injury report with a knee issue, Jones appears likely to team with Braxton Berrios on kickoff returns this week against the Arizona Cardinals.
“I’m excited to get back and start returning again,” Jones said. “Then finally have opportunities on offense to help out.”
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The move also reaches back into last years draft chatter, when McCarthy was one of the quarterback prospects connected to the Giants during the 2024 process. Now the organization gets a second look at a player it once evaluated closely, only in a much different setting and under far more urgent circumstances, with the ripple effects of Darts injury still reshaping the depth chart. [Read more 🡒]