John Mara has put acquiring a franchise quarterback at the top of the Giants' to-do list.
“Obviously that's the No. 1 challenge for us going into this offseason, finding our quarterback of the future,” Mara said Monday after the decision to retain general manager Joe Schon and head coach Brian Daboll. ” he said. “Whether it's the draft or getting a veteran player is up to them to decide.”
But it's worth noting that Mara didn't promise to ensure Shane and Daboll would keep their jobs for two more seasons to avoid a cycle of failure for Daniel Jones.
The Giants fired head coach and play-caller Pat Shurmur after Jones' promising rookie season and the 2019 first-round draft pick never looked the same. Mara infamously said in 2022 that the Giants did everything they could to “ruin” Jones.
Well, if the Giants are going to select either Shedule Sanders or Cam Ward with the No. 3 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, shouldn't that quarterback spend at least two years in the same system?
“I’m not going to put a deadline on it,” Mara said. “But I understand what you're going to do with it.”
If Shane and Daboll are in the hot seat, they may act out of self-preservation and try to force a draft pick on a quarterback rather than doing an honest scouting evaluation.
Shane and Daboll have been spotty in their evaluations of quarterbacks thus far. They decided to sign Jones to a four-year, $160 million contract extension before passing on Michael Penix Jr. (Falcons) and Bo Nix (Broncos) in the 2024 draft. Both showed varying levels of promise as rookies.
Shane signed Drew Lock as Jones' backup, and when Jones was cut, Daboll bypassed Lock and acquired Tommy DeVito, moving over DeVito and returning to Lock.
However, Jones' decision was the biggest mistake that completely changed the direction of the franchise. Will they be able to escape that mistake by keeping Shane and Daboll?
“No,” Mara said. “We made the decision to sign Daniel to that contract at the end of the 2022 season based on how he played, and I approved of that.”
If the Giants had lost to the Colts in Week 17 and had the No. 1 overall pick, it would have been much easier to draft Sanders or Ward.
“If I had thought either of those games had gone bad, I would have fired everyone,” Mara said. “As long as I'm standing on this side of the lawn, we'll never do that in this organization.”
