It seems the Texans weren’t Joe Schoen’s top pick in the Jaxson Dart trade.
Footage released by the Giants from Draft Night reveals Shane on a call with an unidentified general manager during the first round.
Shane then informs the rest of the Giants’ team that this mystery GM was initially on board with the deal.
“He had been saying for a week that he would make this trade, but now he’s hesitating,” Shane remarked.
The subsequent edits leave some ambiguity about whether the next conversation is connected, yet it’s evident that Schoen is stressing how the 2025 NFL Draft may progress.
“Is this giving away our strategy? Is New York about to seize the moment?” he questions at one point.
“It seems there were rumors about the Giants wanting to move up to the first pick,” Shane shared in an interview for Giants Life, the team’s exclusive show that aired the footage. “We were in touch with all the GMs from Pick 18, thinking we needed to make a move.”
“Then, as draft day approaches, suddenly you see players who you didn’t expect to be there, and the GM’s plans don’t seem to align after all.”
“We thought we had a chance to trade up, but then it became a bit nerve-wracking as teams hung back and didn’t engage,” he admitted.
Eventually, this footage shows Shane wrapping up a call with Texans GM Nick Caserio to finalize the trade. The Giants secured their 25th pick along with their 34th and 99th picks, plus a third-round pick for 2026.
Right after that, they selected Dart, but missed out on a quarterback.
A noteworthy detail: while Shane was on the line with another GM, Les Snead from the Rams, Caserio called. Shane excused himself from Snead to agree on terms with Caserio, letting him know the Giants would be moving up with Houston.
He then brought in coach Brian Daboll, who received positive feedback from co-owner Steve Tisch.
“When we got a ‘yes’ from Houston, it was exhilarating,” Shane recounted, as stated on giants.com. “We ended up getting the player we identified late in the round, and we were thrilled about trading up for him.”
