The Giants need a young quarterback, but they still seem uncertain who that is or how to get one
As the New York Giants begin a final round of private quarterback workouts on Thursday with a visit to Colorado to watch Shedeur Sanders throw one final time, it is becoming more and more apparent that there are divergent opinions within the organization about what to do at quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Particularly when it comes to Sanders.
“It’s a little bit contentious inside the Giants draft room and there are some people that are pushing hard for Shedeur,” draft insider Todd McShay of The Ringer said this week on the ‘Ryen Russillo podcast’.
McShay said that ultimately he believes the pick for the Giants at No. 3 will be Penn State edge defender Abdul Carter, or that the Giants are “going to trade to get out of there.”
In mocking Carter to the Giants this week, Cris Collinsworth of Pro Football Focus said if he were the Giants he would trade out of No. 3 “in a heartbeat.”
Let’s examine this a couple of ways.
Is it ‘contentious’?
Maybe.
“There’s a lot of respectful debates in the draft room,” general manager Joe Schoen said on Wednesday. “If there’s discrepancies, which that’s what this week and early into next week is, we’ll work through or get the film and watch it together. Let me see if we can see what you see or we try to coerce them into seeing them how we like them.”
Is a QB ‘mandatory’?
In January, co-owner John Mara said that “obviously the number one issue for us going into this offseason is to find our quarterback of the future.”
Neither Russell Wilson nor Jameis Winston qualify as that, but Schoen thinks the two veterans give him some leeway.
“With the signing of those two players, I think we put ourselves in a position where I don’t think it’s mandatory or something with our feet to the fire, that we have to do,” Schoen said.
Mandatory or not, is it “expected” that Schoen land a potential franchise quarterback of the future early in next week’s draft?
On Russillo’s podcast, McShay reminded that “we hear a lot of stories after the fact of ownership getting involved when it comes to the quarterback position and drafting that high.”
When I asked Schoen on Wednesday how a dispute over what to do would be resolved, he clearly indicated the buck stopped at his desk.
“Ultimately, the decision falls on me,” Schoen said. “You go through the whole process, and there are discrepancies. There’s been discrepancies in all different rounds, all different positions in many a draft, and ultimately the final say typically goes with the general manager.
“Ultimately, if there’s a discrepancy and at the end of the day I’m convicted, the decision has to be made. That’s how we do it.”
While I doubt that ownership would demand a quarterback be selected at No. 3, I don’t doubt that there may be some impatience for Schoen to put a quarterback of the future in place. Getting that done is a big part of why Schoen and Brian Daboll were hired in the first place.
Schoen and Daboll, of course, tried to make it work with Daniel Jones. Ownership clearly wanted that back in 2022, and it ended up taking nearly three full seasons for the Giants to make a decision to move on.
Schoen talks incessantly about his belief in the scouting/grading system the Giants use to study quarterback prospects prior to the draft each year — one developed initially by Daboll.
Yet, the Giants, picking in the top 10 in two of the three drafts Schoen has run, have not drafted a single quarterback during Schoen’s tenure. That, even though Schoen has said he is a fan of taking swings at the quarterback position. Mara was clearly on board with doing so last year, having given the GM the “green light” to select a quarterback if he found the right one. Schoen passed on J.J. McCarthy and selected Malik Nabers.
Schoen on Wednesday indicated that he wasn’t certain the right quarterback would be there for the Giants at pick No. 3 or pick No. 34.
Is it hard to imagine that there might be impatience from ownership for Schoen to stop kicking the quarterback can down the road and finally take a swing? To show proof of concept with the ballyhooed quarterback process?
It is not.
So, what does Schoen do?
Let’s assume, which is always dangerous, that the Giants will not take a quarterback at No. 3. How does Schoen get a quarterback in this class? He has four options:
Trade down from No. 3
McShay and Collinsworth both mentioned the possibility. Might Schoen move down within the top 10 and select Sanders or Jaxson Dart while collecting Day 2 and 2026 draft assets? Teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars at No. 5, the Carolina Panthers at No. 8 and New Orleans Saints at No. 9 come to mind as possible trade partners.
There is risk here. Schoen said Wednesday that if there is a “blue chip” player available, which evaluators consider Carter and Travis Hunter to be, “you don’t pass on that type of player.”
By trading down, Schoen would both be passing on a blue chip player and risking that someone would jump in front of them for the quarterback they are targeting.
Trade up from No. 34
This seems like the most likely play. It involves a lot of reading tea leaves and hoping, both that you can get a trade done and that someone else doesn’t beat you to the quarterback or quarterbacks you are comfortable giving up draft assets to acquire.
Would they give up a 2026 first-round pick and most Days 2 and 3 in this draft to get to No. 8?
Would 34, 65 and a second-round pick in 2026 get them from 34 to 15 in a deal with the Atlanta Falcons?
Would picks 34, 105 and a 2026 third-round pick get the Giants to No. 24 in a deal with the Minnesota Vikings? Would Jaxson Dart still be available? Would Jalen Milroe be available? Tyler Shough?
If they waited until really late in Round 1, would 34 and 105 get them to No. 30 in a deal with the Buffalo Bills? That would at least get them in front of the Cleveland Browns at No. 33.
Stay at No. 34
Draft analysts are nearly unanimous in that three quarterbacks — Cam Ward, Sanders, Dart — will be selected in Round 1. Despite all of the pre-draft quarterback hysteria, no one is certain about Milroe or Shough.
McShay indicated recently on his podcast that he does not believe any team is taking Milroe or Shough in Round 1 — unless someone like the Giants, Browns or Saints trades up from Round 2 in order to do that.
Maybe Schoen and the Giants sit tight, watch spots like the Saints at No. 9, Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 21 and Los Angeles Rams at No. 26 that are considered possible landing spots for quarterbacks come and go without quarterbacks being taken and have at least Milroe and Shough on the board when Round 2 begins.
Take a late QB flier
If the Giants miss out on the top quarterbacks, or choose not to take one, could they take a flier late on Day 2 or at some point on Day 3 on a developmental quarterback?
Even if that player does not become a franchise-caliber quarterback, Schoen indicated there could be value in selecting a quarterback at that point.
“Backup quarterbacks are between $4 million and $10 million, whatever number you want to throw out,” Schoen said. “So, yeah, if you can get a quarterback in the third, fourth, fifth, whatever it is, and he can be a backup quarterback, now you’re opening up financial resources that you don’t have to spend on a backup quarterback, and he can be a cost controlled player for four years that’s not expensive compared to what’s on the open market.
“So, yeah, it doesn’t have to be this guy has got to be a starter. It would be nice if it’s a young backup quarterback on a rookie contract too because, when you look at what we paid for backup quarterbacks, whether it was Tyrod (Taylor), Drew (Lock), to where we are now, that’s money you can spend elsewhere.
“To sign a guy with upside at that position that can develop and maybe win you games, or maybe they develop into a No. 1, you’re always looking at those scenarios.”
Quarterbacks like Dillon Gabriel, Will Howard, Riley Leonard, Kyle McCord and Quinn Ewers all have differing levels of support. For what it’s worth, the only quarterback outside the top five the Giants held a ‘30’ visit with is McCord.