Every NFL draft is filled with questions about needs, priorities, rankings, roster composition, general manager and head coach positions (are they safe or on the hot seat?), and franchise prospects. We factor in many potential scenarios.
For the Giants, what happens this year, and more specifically what happens on Thursday night, could be shaken up, stirred up, and filtered down to one basic question: Eventually (at the latest) Will we get a quarterback to replace Daniel Jones (in 2025) or not?
that’s it.
Of course, for general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll to enter Season 3, what the Giants must accomplish to get back to the winning streak they achieved in 2022 and failed to maintain in 2023 is We have a lot.
They don’t have a true No. 1 wide receiver or a No. 2 starting cornerback. There’s been a decade-long quest to fix the offensive line. They’re missing tight ends (if Darren Waller retires), safeties (Xavier McKinney is with the Packers), and running backs (Saquon Barkley is an Eagle!).
The Giants entered this draft with just six picks (all but one in the seventh round) and could get immediate help from at least three of those picks.
But how this resolves at quarterback will determine how the 2024 draft ultimately impacts the entire operation.
“This is a unique position,” Shane said. “There are only a few people on the planet who can play that position at a high level. So to really get along with them, we want to do that every year, and I think it’s important to get to know them.”
Oh, and the Giants evaded them even more vigorously than usual.
This wasn’t some smokescreen interest meant to make other teams think the Giants were on their radar at quarterback.They are teeth Hot for quarterbacks. I don’t know yet whether they are hot, red-hot, or incandescent.
It seems unlikely that the Giants will be able to hold on to the No. 6 overall pick and acquire this player.
They had legitimate interest in Michigan out of JJ McCarthy, and while his intangibles are off the charts, acquiring him at 6-years-old feels like a reach. Shane and Daboll were drawn to North Carolina’s Drake Maye because of his physical resemblance to prospect Josh Allen, whom the Bills drafted seventh in 2018 when Shane and Daboll worked in Buffalo. Of course.
At the time, the Bills traded up to acquire Allen. Shane and Daboll must know that if they want to get a shot at May, he has to be aggressive.
You may not be able to take it off. The third-place Patriots need a quarterback, and if Caleb Williams (Bears) and Jayden Daniels (Commanders) go 1-2, as expected, Maye will most likely be taken.
Could the Giants go from six to three to acquire Maye? Do the Patriots believe they can get McCarthy at six years old after that?
The bigger question for the Giants is this: Are they willing to part with large draft rights in 2024 and 2025 to step up to acquire a quarterback?
If so, why not re-sign Jones with over $80 million guaranteed, even if he could have been let go after just two years due to a significant (but not fatal) dead money hit of $22 million? is admitting that it was a mistake. In 2025.
The Giants could try to justify re-acquiring Jones by saying that when they signed him, he was a 25-year-old who played well in the franchise’s first playoff win since 2011.
Since then, he has suffered a second neck injury (according to Jones, it was from a needle), tore his right anterior cruciate ligament and required reconstructive knee surgery. Jones is on schedule to prepare for training camp this summer, and Schoen has reiterated that he expects Jones to be the Week 1 starter if healthy. This expectation is not to discount the possibility of Jones’ successor joining the roster through this draft.
Schoen acknowledged that teams seeking promotion are typically subject to a “quarterback tax.” “I think that happens at that position,” he said. So there won’t be any bargains for the Giants.
Trading up for a quarterback like Bo Nix or Michael Penix Jr. to go beyond the first or second round is also a potential path the Giants could take.
Or how about the Giants staying with the status quo and selecting a stud wide receiver?
This would not show Jones the door, but rather enhance his ability to succeed. Marvin Harrison Jr. will probably be gone, but Malik Nabors or Roman Odunze should be there for the Giants.
All three would instantly become the team’s most talented targets, and each could have an Odell Beckham Jr.-like impact.
“At the end of the day, we need to score more points,” Schoen said. “Plus, if it’s a No. 1 receiver, whatever you want to call it, having better receiving weapons would help everyone.”
Adding a quarterback can also help if it’s appropriate.
