While they didn’t necessarily have real Super Bowl aspirations, any realistic fan would agree that the team’s centennial season was one step short of a catastrophe. There certainly weren’t many positives the Giants can take away from a season where airplanes flying over MetLife stadium begging John Mara to “clean house” dominated headlines.
Brian Daboll and company finished with an abysmal 3-14 record while going 1-9 at home and 0-6 against the divisional opponents. Both are a franchise worst, all while starting four different quarterbacks over the course of the same season- a far cry from Eli Manning’s 210 consecutive starts from 2004-2017.
None of those four quarterbacks- Daniel Jones, Drew Lock, Tommy DeVito or Tim Boyle- really gave them a shot at being consistently competitive, either. The offense was 30th in total yards per game (294.8 yards per game) and 28th in passing (189.9 yards per game) and only produced a total of 30 touchdowns in 17 games.
For comparison, the Bengals, Lions, Buccaneers and Jets had more passing touchdowns than the Giants did total touchdowns.
Certainly not a centennial season to remember.
So what are the positives Giants fans can find for 2025 and beyond?
New York Giants Offseason Blue Print: Positives to Build On
Having the Third Overall Pick
It’s a sign a team had a disastrous season and most likely snuck in a meaningless win at some in the season to lose the top overall pick, but it’s still one of the highest valued assets a team can posses. For starters, the Giants are guaranteed a blue-chip prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft. Having the third pick in the NFL Draft offers any franchise an opportunity to select a game-changing player like Abdul Carter out of Penn State, Travis Hunter from Colorado or Will Johnson from Michigan.
Typically, elite talent remains available at this stage, providing access to a top prospect who can immediately impact the team. Of the last five NFL drafts, three out of the five third overall picks are hits.
2024: Drake Maye, Quarterback – New England Patriots
2023: Will Anderson Jr., Edge Rusher – Houston Texans
2022: Derek Stingley Jr., Cornerback – Houston Texans
2021: Trey Lance, Quarterback – San Francisco 49ers
2020: Jeff Okudah, Cornerback – Detroit Lions
If the trends remain consistent, the Giants have a 60% chance of landing a game-changing prospect at third overall.
No Large Quarterback Contracts
During his end of season press conference this week, team owner John Mara stated that, “The No. 1 issue for the Giants going into the offseason is finding the quarterback of the future, whether that be via the draft or acquiring a veteran.”
As of today, the only quarterback on the active roster is DeVito- who the team clearly does not believe in as spot starter after replacing him for Lock following an unpromising outing against the Buccaneers in November.
So what are the bright spots for arguably the worst quarterback situation in the NFL? Realistically, there’s more unknown about who will be under center for the Giants in 2025 than what the team can even answer.
For example:
- How will their future starter be acquired? Trade? Draft? Free agency?
- Does management believe them long-term?
- Will they reach for someone in the draft for job preservation?
- Are any of the top quarterbacks in this year’s draft even worthy of being the third pick?
- What kind of assets will be needed for acquiring a veteran?
- What is the market for a stop-gap veteran option?
The positive spin for the Giants is that most of these scenarios will not hamstring their cap situation. It’s no secret that teams across the NFL try to add as much talent as possible when their starting quarterback is on a cheap, rookie salary. The Giants have not had that benefit since 2020- the year after Manning’s contract was off the books. Even then, it didn’t really feel like the team was aggressive in surrounding a young Jones with premiere talent.
If Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll truly believe “they are a quarterback away” from competing, which is what they echoed in their midseason and end of season conferences, then the probability of the Giants having a healthy cap situation for the future dramatically raises.
Comparatively, veteran stop-gap options like Justin Fields, Sam Darnold, Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston are thought to be cheaper alternatives to high-end starters.
Here is a list of notable quarterbacks who signed with new teams during the 2024 NFL offseason, along with their contract details:
- Kirk Cousins: Signed a four-year, $180 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons.
- Sam Darnold: Joined the Minnesota Vikings on a one-year, $10 million contract.
- Russell Wilson: Signed a one-year, $1.2 million deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
- Jameis Winston: Agreed to a one-year, $4 million contract with the Cleveland Browns.
- Gardner Minshew: Signed a two-year, $25 million deal with the Las Vegas Raiders.
- Jimmy Garoppolo: Joined the Los Angeles Rams on a one-year deal with a base value of $4.5 million.
- Drew Lock: Signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the New York Giants.
- Marcus Mariota: Agreed to a one-year, $6 million deal with the New York Jets, with incentives that could increase the value to $10 million.
- Mason Rudolph: Signed a one-year, $2.9 million contract with the Tennessee Titans.
- Mitchell Trubisky: Signed with the Buffalo Bills on a two-year, $5.25 million deal.
The mean for these contracts is $24.39 million, ballooned by Kirk Cousins’ deal that he likely won’t even see most of the money. If you take out his AAV of $45 million, the mean of signed contracts last season drops to $10.89 million.
Even if the market remains intact, the Giants could get a stop-gap option at roughly $10-11 million. That type of salary will not stop them from signing quality starters to fill out the roster.
Positives in a season
There isn’t much to be hopeful about after a 3-14 season filled with dysfunction, uncompetitive losses, and rumblings of front office changes. Still, there are some positives for the Giants to build on for the future.
However, with some sound moves, Schoen and Daboll can rebuild the Giants the right way. Changes need to be for the long-term, but fans are running out patience.
Main Photo Courtesy of Kevin R. Wexler – The Record – Imagn Images
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